Soul Gem Saga 3: Soulless Abyss
by largefish8
Summary: The final part of my soul gem saga trilogy. Full summary inside. Please Read and Review. Co-authered with Cydra. Caution: Updating may be slow
1. Family Reunion

**Spyro, Cynder, and all other Spyro related characters are property of Sierra studios. **

**Draco, Contrinus, Chip and Cydra are property of my co-author, Cydra. **

**Matt, his merc team, the NSC and related tech, the ancients/atlanteans and malefors dragon generals are mine.**

**Summary: Its been a week since the events of Forgotten blood and the crew have returned to pick Matt up, only to find that 8 months have passed for him. It seems like Avalar is at peace till the actions of an old enemy result in the release of the very race that brought the ancients to their knees…**

**Soul Gem Saga 3: Soulless Abyss**

**Chapter 1: Family Reunion**

It had been a week since the gang had returned from Avalar, down a crewmember. Draco was in the BiNebular with Contrinus. "Why has Chloe been acting like that? I understand why she's so sad but she needs to move on. She's ignored three comms to head back to central. I saw her mails," said Draco.

"I don't think it's that simple," said Contrinus, "Besides, I'm not so sure that's entirely mourning."

"She acts like he's just waiting somewhere, but I saw those shells hit from the fighter. It was a huge explosion," said Draco

"Well, they were reality bombs," said Contrinus, "And we know how unpredictable reality warps are."

"Yeah...but remember when we flew over the ruins when we left?" said Draco. Contrinus nodded before looking out the window facing the open bay. "Hey...is that part of the Dragon Eye Nebula?" she said before they looked at each other.

A great feeling of unease settled over both of them, especially with the space clouds looming up ahead.

A piece of debris floated near it and a bolt of energy shot out and evaporated it. The two experiments turned and ran for the bridge as fast as possible.

When they ran in, Draco yelled, "Chloe, are you out of your-" Then he noticed a heavily-singed NegaMorph. "What happened to you?" he asked.

"I heard Matt had a Positron 900 plasma rifle. I went to see if I could find it as they're really valuable and it's not like he needs it. Chloe seemed to object even when I explained that we need the money with her not taking contracts," said NegaMorph, pinching a candle like flame on his ear out.

"Just as well," said Contrinus, "I'd bet all my feathers that Matt booby-trapped his stash."

"No, he once said that he always forgets where he put them," said Draco.

"Pretty much the same thing," said Contrinus. "Right, anyways, where was I?" said Draco, "Ah yes, I remember. Chloe, are you of your mind?!"

Chloe was standing at the controls. "Take us in via region 31-d," she said, ignoring the experiments. "Aye, Ma'am." Draco walked forward to turn off the controls when a lightning bolt landed in front of him.

"Uh, Chloe, are you certain you know what you're doing?" said Draco.

"Perfectly well...touch the controls again and I'll throw you out an airlock," she said sweetly. "One minute to wormhole, Ma'am. I can see the temporal stabilizers," said a crewman

"Good," said Chloe, "No more big time gaps between trips here and back." "Looks like they only just came online...estimating time difference...8 months," said the crewman and Chloe sighed. "I hope he was ok."

--

Meanwhile, Matt was waking up from a good night's sleep. He could count the number of good sleeps he had on the Bladestorm that year with one hand. Not like he had a hand at the moment.

He woke up to see Sonya's upside-down face. "Wakey, wakey, lazy butt. You're sleeping the best part of the day away," she said. Matt yawned and jumped down.

"Ok, ok, you're not my mother," he said as he stretched his tail and wings. It turns out that dragons were like cats, they could take a nap anywhere they could.

He had been stuck this way since Spyro and co had found him under the rubble of Banshee base. Matt blamed the reality shells. There was a reason reality weapons weren't used by generals with fully functional brains and Matt was currently a living reason why.

For the first month he'd been convinced that his human form was toast and he should get used to it. Xavier and Morgan however had not been so convinced and with help from them he'd managed to get his ability to get his human form back, though it did tire him out.

Of course, that wasn't the only training he got. He was being progressively taught how to control all of his Shar-Khan powers as well as how to quell his inner demon.

He'd wondered about some of the training and he missed his sister. It had been almost a year now and he was getting settled to the fact that he was here to stay. Warfang was definitely nicer now and he'd heard that the Atlanteans had repaired and reclaimed the old city that had been around the archive, though they'd wondered where the archive had gone.

Also, with the war apparently over, everyone seemed to settle down. Bianca had traveled afar to better develop her magic. She was due to a visit back to Warfang by the end of the week. The younger dragons had a growth spurt and were very nearly adult-sized. Although Sonya wish she didn't look so much like Avarona and was determined to see if Bianca could give her some cosmetic modification when she got back.

Matt turned human to go for a breath of fresh air and nearly ran into Flame and Ember.

Fortunately, Matt had a lifetime's experience of avoid large objects moving towards (usually with the purpose of killing him) and avoided a collision. "Hey guys," said Matt, "How's it going?"

Flame n Ember smiled down at him. "Fine..."

"You know Matt," said Flame, "You'd be able to attract more dragonesses if you stayed in dragon form. The females dig heroes. Of course, the fact that you're nearly as handsome as me might help."

Matt laughed. "Nice try, Flame...only one person for me and she's in the wrong universe," he said with a smile.

Ember laughed as well and said, "Flame, you can't push Matt. Romance has to build up by itself." "Oh you're one to talk, Ms. I-Wanna-Take-Spyro-From-Cynder," accused Flame in a mocking tone.

Matt laughed again before walking past them. "Catch you later," he said, headed for where Xavier was probably preparing yet another wonderful training exercise.

As Matt walked on, he couldn't help thinking about Chloe and said, "I wonder if she's forgotten me by now?"

--

Matt's answer was appearing from the Avalar wormhole, electricity crackling around it as the temporal stabilizers on the other side went to work. The Bladestorm slowly pushed its way into the Avalar reality.

"There, that wasn't so bad, was it?" said Chloe.

Everyone picked themselves up from where they'd fallen and fell over again as a ship identical to the Nighthawk shot past the window.

Then a transmission came through the computer. "Halt," said the captain on the other vessel, "Identify yourselves."

Chloe got to the comm. "This is Captain Chloe Lynch of the NSS Bladestorm..." she began.

"Oh, Chloe, I should have known" the captain cut her off in a much friendlier tone, "We've been wondering if you'd be here again. Head on down. We'll let them know you're coming."

Chloe turned off the comm. "Ok...who's coming down to planet with me?" she said

"I'll go!" said Kala eagerly. "Me too!" said PlasMorph, "I wanna see what Avalar's like." "I suppose I'd better go to keep these two out of trouble," said NegaMorph.

Draco and Contrinus stepped forward. "We're coming, I never got a chance to see Avalar," said Contrinus. Chip said, "I'd like another look around." Techo sighed, "Well, we might as well come. Someone needs to keep NegaMorph in check."

NegaMorph glared back at him before saying, "What about Megan?" "I think she's working on something in her room right now," said Xander, "Whatever it is, I can't get within 10 feet of her door without nearly sneezing my head off."

"She can come if she wants, but no zapping," said Chloe. "Ok..." said Chip, "Who wants to knock on her door and tell her?" Everyone looked at NegaMorph. "It's not like she'll kill you," said Wilson.

NegaMorph shook his head and said, "If there's one thing I've learned about magic, is that you don't want to barge in when someone's in the middle of working on a spell."

Chloe looked at NegaMorph. "You act like there's a choice...so DO IT!"

NegaMorph sighed and said, "Alright, but if I end up accidentally turned pink because of this, I'm slipping something into your bathwater." "Get going," said Chloe.

--

Matt wandered into the training arena to see Elder Cyril there with Xavier. "Ah, Matthew...I have some good news," he said as Matt wandered in.

"You're too busy to do any training today?" said Matt eagerly.

"No, but an NSC ship arrived. If Morgan's patrol is to be believed your sister is in command of it," said Cyril.

Matt just stared for a few seconds before crying, "YAAAAAAHOOOOOO!!!" Both dragons flinched from the volume of Matt's jubilation.

Matt danced around. "I knew she didn't forget me! Soon I will have permanent thumbs again!" he yelled before twitching as he lost his concentration, turning back to his dragon form. "Blitznak!" he swore.

--

Soon afterwards, the Nighthawk was hovering down towards the landing pad the Atlanteans had set up. Matt and several of his friends and allies were waiting there.

Chloe ran out of the ship first and looked around wildly. "Chloe?" said Matt, walking forward a bit sheepishly, despite the fact his dragon form was twice the size of her.

Chloe immediately ran forward and hugged her brother. A second later, she realized that she was hugging his left front leg and it was wide around as her arms would allow her to reach.

Matt concentrated and changed back...and was immediately nearly strangled as Chloe adjusted her hug accordingly. Sparx watched and muttered to Spyro, "Love hurts."

Matt eventually managed to escape Chloe's killer hug and said, "It's great to see you too sis." "What happened back-" started Chloe when there was a cry of "Matthew!" PlasMorph landed in Matt's arms and said, "Did you miss me?" "Like the stomach flu," said Matt.

PlasMorph said, "Aw...I missed you too," and yelped as Matt dropped him. NegaMorph strolled down the ramp with Megan. Matt immediately spotted something. "Why are you pink?" Matt said, trying not to laugh and losing.

NegaMorph glared at Matt and said, "Someone thought it would be a good idea to march into an enchantress-in-training's room while she was practicing spells." Megan rubbed the back of her head and looked embarrassed. NegaMorph switched the focus of his glare to Chloe and said, "I know where all the bathtubs are."

Chloe sighed. "And I know how to make the spiderbots maul you," she said. Matt grinned. "I actually missed this..." he said happily.

Then Draco and Contrinus flew straight into Matt's arms in a friendly tackle. "Room for one more?" asked Chip as he walked over and hopped onto Matt.

Techo and Wilson walked out too and spotted Matt. "LYNCH!" they yelled and ran over to hug him and a second later, they all fell into a heap, with Matt at the bottom. "Ok...glad you're happy...please get off so I can...breathe."

Then Chris walked out and saw Matt on the bottom of the dogpile. Matt could tell what Chris was thinking and said, "Chris...don't..." Chris grinned and said, "Sorry man, but I gotta." He then jumped on top of the dogpile, which caused Matt to emit a squawk of discomfort.

"Ok...that's it," he said and transformed, the increased size allowing him to get loose. He turned back and turned in time to be knocked flying a flying hug from Kala.

"Oh Matt, I'm so glad you're okay!" said Kala as she hugged Matt closely. "Can't...breathe..." wheezed Matt, "THREE SECOND RULE!"

Kala let go and said, "We thought you were dead." Matt. "I almost was. These guys found me just in time," he said, aiming a thumb at Spyro and the others.

"I'm surprised that the reality bombs didn't affect you too much," said Chip.

Matt looked a bit embarrassed. "Kinda did...wasn't exactly human when they found me," he said.

'What? Were you turned into a slime-spewing amoeba slug?" asked Draco, "No offense to current company." PlasMorph, who had not been paying attention at all, turned around and said, "What?"

"Nope, I dunno, it's like it reversed my two forms around. I had to relearn how to turn human," Matt said.

"Sorta like physical therapy?" asked Contrinus.

"Probably...but more weird and less painful," said Matt.

Then Matt showed the gang around the fixed Warfang. The moles had been able to a great amount with the stone city. None of them could detect any sign of battle damage from the war.

Kala barely had any experience of Avalar through her own persona, so she was somewhat unnerved by the many dragons there. She also felt annoyed that Matt, who was previously more than three times her height in human form, now positively dwarfed her in dragon form.

"Most of the city's fixed now. I recommend we keep what happened at the archive within the team. Morgan and the colonists are reclaiming that city...and they wondered where the archive went," said Matt, not noticing Kala's mood.

"So, has there been any attacks at all since Malefor's been wiped out?" asked Chloe, "He has been wiped out, right?"

"Well...we never found him. We should have at least found empty implants," said Matt, darkly before brightening up. "Well, he'd have to be stupid to try and stay here or even go to Nullspace. I bet even the Empire are after his blood after they wrecked Banshee base."

"What about Raptor or Devina?" asked NegaMorph, "Is Ghoulwyrm still here or not?" "Nope, it's been months and not a sign of them. They're long gone," said Matt.

"I wouldn't be too sure of that," said Megan, "I may not know Raptor or Devina, but I do know Ghoulwyrm. He may or may not reappear in this world, but he will come back to attack us."

"So? I could stomp him now...Kala?" said Matt as Kala walked off sniffing sadly.

Matt turned to the others and asked, "Was it something I said? I don't think I said anything that could have upset her."

Chloe shook her head and said, "You can be as thick as concrete sometimes."

Matt looked confused before changing back to human and running after Kala.

--

Matt later found Kala sitting on a rampant. From the wet streaks on her face's fur, he could tell she had been crying. "Kala?" said Matt, "Is something wrong?"

Kala looked at Matt. "It's not fair. Is there something trying to actively keep us apart?" she said, sniffing sadly.

Matt immediately got what Kala was saying, because he had felt the same thing himself. "I know what you mean," said Matt, "Of course, we could find a way to change you to a more suitable size and form. Heck, I'd even become an experiment to stay with you."

Kala fell on Matt and started crying. Matt just petted her. "We'll find a way...don't you worry," he said, even though part of him wasn't so sure.

--

Later, Matt arrived at the training area to find Xavier. "You're late," said Xavier, "Later than usual in fact."

"I had to talk to someone...so what's today's training?" Matt said, changing the subject as fast as he could.

"Well, hopefully by the end of today's training, you'll be able to overcome your inner demon and eliminate the possibility of you ever becoming a Shar-Virk," said Xavier.

"That's good...so...how do I do that?" said Matt.

"We start off like this," said Xavier and before Matt could comprehend what he meant, Xavier hit him with a knockout spell.

--

Matt came round with a groan. "Dammit...that wasn't fun," he moaned, getting up and looking around. It looked like the Chronicler's dreamscape except it was just one large arena. He looked down to see he had his ion blade and a get up similar to Morgan's combat armor.

"Oookay, where am I?" asked Matt.

"You're here to face me," said a familiar voice behind him. Matt spun to see a red-eyed version of himself, wearing the black armor of a Shar-Virk. "Draconus...great," Matt said, backing up out of slash range.

"So, this is where it's all decided," said Draconus idlely, "Whether you become Khan or Virk, whether you control this body or I. Think you're ready to take the test?"

"You really think they'll let you run amok if you win?" said Matt, pulling out his blade and testing the balance.

"Oh, they won't be a factor for very long after I come out," said Draconus, a sadistic grin on his face.

"Get on with it then," said Matt. Draconus nodded and lifted his blade to his face in the classic swordfighting salute. Matt wasn't fooled by that and was in time to block the sudden lunge.

Matt became really grateful he had allowed Morgan to talk him into taking sword-fighting lessons to improve his skill with the ion blade. Though he wondered in the back of his head that by learned more about sword-fighting, he'd allowed Draconus to become more skillful.

Matt was proved right as Draconus blocked a trick that Matt had been taught by Morgan. "You know, you should just let me win. I am definitely more suited to have your body."

"Um, I was born with this body, so the answer's automatically no," said Matt before he tried feinting a technique Morgan taught him before going with his usual slashing.

Draconus dodged the slashes before delivering a nasty punch to Matt's face. "You're nothing, you can't exist without me," he taunted.

"I've been able to handle myself pretty well before you even came into being," said Matt, "So I don't think you're as necessary as you say you are. Come to think of it, I think you're obsolete."

Draconus laughed and delivered a slash that Matt barely avoided. "I dunno who I'll kill first when I'm out of here: maybe your little reptile friends...or maybe your sister...no...I think I'll visit your little furry friend first...make some fur gloves," said Draconus cruelly.

Matt glared at Draconus and said, "That's never going to happen. You've shed blood for the last time. Now I'm going to put you away forever."

"You'll have to put me down to put me out." laughed Draconus. "Oh, how I'll make miss Kala scream..." he said, taunting nastily and dancing just out of Matt's reach.

Matt snarled and sent a wave of plasma energy at Draconus's feet. As he was moving backwards to avoid being burned, Matt leapt into the air and prepared to bring his ion blade down on Draconus. Draconus smirked at Matt's amateur move and held up his ion blade to block it.

But instead of the blades clashing, Matt swung his sword so it hit the hilt of Draconus's sword between where his hand grasped it and the blade.

Draconus yelped in pain and dropped his ion blade. Before he could move, Matt nicked the back of his legs, forcing him down. "I'm making sure you never hurt anyone...ever," said Matt, his blade aimed for a fatal slash.

Draconus glared up at him and said, "I don't believe you have the courage to do that. If you really give deliver the final blow, then do it."

Matt looked ready to do just that before stopping. "No...you aren't worth my time," he said, turning away. He could hear Draconus taunting him as he walked away.

Then Draconus's voice began to grow fainter as the arena started to fade away.

--

The next thing Matt knew, he was waking up on the training area's floor.

"I don't think I passed. He's still in here. I was hoping for some peace n quiet," he said, getting up unsteadily.

"On the contrary," said Xavier, "You passed with flying colors." When Matt looked confused, Xavier explained, "Many people believe that it is by destroying your inner demon is what frees you from them. But doing so makes you just like them. Showing compassion is what separates Shar-Khan from Shar-Virk."

Matt sighed. "Is there a way to get him to shut up though?" he said, getting a smirk from Xavier.

"Well, unfortunately, they still linger in you. All beings are born with inner evil," said Xavier, "But they eventually get bored and you'll be able to coexist peacefully." "How long would that take?" asked Matt. "Oh, I'd say roughly a century."

Matt's eye twitched at this before he broke down in tears.

Xavier patted Matt on the back, something that left Matt sprawling on the ground. "Not to worry, we Shar-Khan live much longer than normal humans. Not to mention we retain our prime for a very long time."

"I can't feel my spine," said Matt from the floor.

"Erm, I'll send for your phoenix friend," said Xavier.

"Ok...I'll just lie here..." said Matt.

--

In Avalar's orbit, one of Morgan's patrol ships was making another circuit. Suddenly, they detected some kind of disturbance ahead. But the visuals showed no activity at all and the disturbance was dismissed as being a shooting star or a glitch.

They flew onwards, missing the wormhole closing. The small ship that had come out slowly flew forward. On board, Taleth glared at the small crew. Janeth and Seleni looked as uncomfortable as him but the small concase class patrol ship had been the only one they could steal.

"I can't believe we're stuck in this little sardine can because that jerk blew up our battleship," moaned Seleni, "And if that wasn't bad enough, we have to do deliveries to complete the disguise. Can you think of anything more undignified?"

"Look, it's not a disguise. Though why Ghoulwyrm wants these power crystals is beyond me. Let's just get this done. It's nice to see that Avalar seems to be peaceful again..." said Janeth.

"Mhm," said Seleni sarcastically, "I'd give it a week at most."

Taleth glared. "We are not here to destroy...and especially not the home of dragonkind..." he said angrily.

"Whatever," said Seleni, "They'll probably be doing it themselves."

"True...just get ready..." Taleth said, turning to the pilot. "Stay in orbit...let's get this done."

--

Meanwhile, in the opening of a cave into a dark mountain, Ghoulwyrm was pacing back and forth anxiously. "What could be taking them so long?" he said, "It couldn't be that hard to get here, could it?"

Three people walked into the cave. "Ghoulwyrm, that's the name you have right now, correct?" said the leader.

"Taleth, it's been centuries," said Ghoulwyrm, "How's the Shar-Virk Hoard or whatever you're calling your organization these days?"

"Badly. We lost our ship to some jumped up little hatchling goodie-goodie," said Seleni, before looking at her comm., "Hey, my holo-unit's busted. That was a gift to Malefor."

"Yeah, I'm not that surprised," said Ghoulwyrm, "And I'll bet my lightning rods I can guess who it was that blew up your battleship."

"You've met, Captain Lynch then," said Taleth in an amused voice.

"More than once," said Ghoulwyrm, "The man's a thorn in the side of pratically everyone I ally with, including my own."

Taleth looked for a minute before laughing his head off. "Oh, this is classic," he said.

"Keep on laughing," said Ghoulwyrm, "Cause I think you'll be interested in knowing that Matt is living here on this planet."

Taleth stopped laughing in mid 'ha'. "Oh crap," he said before reaching for his comm.

--

Meanwhile, the ship's steward was roused out of the book he was reading when WARDEN said, "Sir, I just detected an unidentified ship nearby."

"What? Lemme see," said the guy in an annoyed voice. He'd just reached his favorite bit. He looked at the view. A flickering shape could be seen. "Just a phase ore asteroid, take it out," he said.

--

Taleth's pilot jumped up as the targeting alarm began to wail. At the same time, the comm. began to turn on. "Get out of orbit...circle around...get out!"

The pilot didn't listen, watching with horrified fascination as an NSC destroyer with the words 'NSS Bladestorm' on it circled into view. "Oh drack," swore the Shar-Virk just as the Bladestorm's main cannon fired.

--

Taleth got the first parts of the explosion through his communicator before it became completely static.

Ghoulwyrm couldn't resist being smug. "Are we having technical difficulties? EEP!" he said, jumping back as Taleth transformed to his full dragon form and snarled, "I advise you SHUT UP!"

Seleni groaned and said, "Don't me we're stranded on this backwater planet."

"This is where our abilities came from. Look, the only Shar-Khan alive are that idiot merc and his sister. We can stroll into Warfang and get a teleporter from the catacomb facility," said Taleth.

"Uh, regarding that topic," said Ghoulwyrm, "I don't suppose you recall the lost colony."

"You mean the blasted colony." said Seleni smugly. Taleth said, "Yes...I also recall I didn't order you to nuke it."

"Well, er, you're not going to like this, but they weren't as blasted as you thought they were," said Ghoulwyrm.

Taleth sighed. "I thought that human who attacked Devina was familiar. Don't tell me..." he muttered.

"They apparently used a warp gate and brought them all here to this time," said Ghoulwyrm, "They've been settling down where the archive used to be."

"Well, just as well we're not going there. As for you, here's your stupid power crystal," said Janeth, tossing it to Ghoulwyrm.

Ghoulwyrm caught it and said, "So, don't suppose you have any backup plans for leaving here, do you?"

"Like I said, the old Catacomb facility had several old shuttles. We'll just steal one," said Seleni.

"Oh, it won't be that easy to sneak down there," said Ghoulwyrm, "The dragons will probably be keeping a close eye on that place. Those Apes are still lurking around down there. Even Malefor's death wasn't enough to end his curse."

Taleth looked at a heavy looking rock and sent a psy-blast that pulverized it to dust. "I think we'll be just fine," he said smugly

**Oh boy…Matts alive and well but it looks like troubles arrived…Tune in next time.**


	2. Lost in the Dark

**Spyro, Cynder, and all other Spyro related characters are property of Sierra studios. **

**Draco, Contrinus, Chip and Cydra are property of my co-author, Cydra. **

**Matt, his merc team, the NSC and related tech, the ancients/atlanteans and malefors dragon generals are mine.**

**Soul Gem Saga 3: Soulless Abyss**

**Chapter 2: Lost in the Dark**

Kala was having mixed feelings. For one thing, she was glad that Matt was safe and that he finally gotten dominance over Draconus. However, she was mainly feeling upset because of the seemingly humongous gap between them.

Contrinus was talking with her. "Look, I'm sure Dr Willis and Jumba can come up with something," she said

"I don't know," said Kala, "I doubt that artificial DNA like mine can be changed into something natural."

"I dunno. I'm sure there's a way," said Contrinus, "If anything, I'm sure Matt'll be happy to do some gene therapy to himself."

"No, I couldn't let him give up his humanity," said Kala, "Not after he's worked so hard to get it."

"Uh, I'm not certain if we can find any reliable magicians that could change me permanently," said Kala. "I don't know," said Contrinus, "If Megan can turn Matt into a girl; she could probably make you human."

Kala stared for a minute. "Pardon?"

"Uh, nothing, forget I said that," said Contrinus, "But Megan's a lot more competent than you think, even if NegaMorph resembles a badly-made stick of cotton candy right now."

Kala sighed. "I dunno..." she said, "It's never so easy. That's one thing I learnt from Matt."

--

Meanwhile, WARDEN had looked over the remains of the 'meteor' the Bladestorm blew up. It quickly found that it wasn't what they thought it was.

"Got the ID...NSS Vorn...stolen from the Isamandius 4 shipyards last month by a bunch of hybrids," said a crewman before stopping as the security footage of the robbery came up.

"What kind of hybrids?" asked Xander, "Not some alien mix-ups with a cracked hourglass symbol on them, right?"

"Negative, profile matches that of Taleth and his two associates. Their bodies were not aboard the vessels wreckage," said WARDEN

Xander did not meet the Shar-Virk personally, but he knew they were incredibly bad news. "Send a warning to Captain Lynch," said Xander, "If they've landed on the planet, this could be big trouble."

--

Matt was asleep in his room, curled up when Chloe came in. "Matt? Wake up. We got trouble," she said. "Uh...can it wait until morning?" Matt mumbled.

"No it can't," said Chloe, "WARDEN blew up a ship that was recently stolen..." "Then we're going to have to pay for the funerals, problem over," said Matt as he turned over. "By Taleth and his friends and their bodies weren't aboard when it was blasted," finished Chloe.

Matt continued to snore before waking up fully. "Pardon?" he said.

"Taleth, Seleni, and Janeth stole the ship and weren't aboard when it was blasted," said Chloe, "Which probably means they're on this planet."

Matt jumped up. Pure terror was good at waking someone up. "We gotta tell the Elders," he said.

"Matt, you've gone too native," said Chloe before stomping on his tail.

Matt yelped. "But this is Taleth. Last time we barely escaped. This time we can get backup," he said, rubbing his tail.

"True," said Chloe, "But this time, he doesn't have the technological advantage, remember?"

Matt nodded. "Ah...good times...shame I missed the last ship," he said before changing to human form."Shame we can't just scan for em."

"Actually we can and WARDEN already did," said Chloe.

"So where are they?" said Matt.

--

Dragons came and went extremely frequently in Warfang. So no one paid attention to the three new dragons that arrived that day. The only last glance they had was for the rarer psychic dragon that was leading the trio.

Seleni glared at them. "These idiots...they could rule Nullspace if they put their mind to it," she muttered to Taleth.

"Oh don't worry," said Taleth, "Eventually, the dragons shall rise up and rule Nullspace as is their right."

"Yeah...I'm sure," muttered Janeth to himself. He'd begun to notice that were less civilians then you would have expected for this time of day. "Arceon? I think we should be careful," he said, thinking he saw a person peering over the side of a roof.

"Relax," said Taleth, "No one in this city could possibly know who we are." "But isn't Lynch here?" said Seleni. "As if they'd ever let humans in Warfang," said Taleth.

Taleth got a shock as four dragons came into view, Elders by the look of things. Oh and about 20 armed marines popped into view on the roofs, aiming at them. "Turn human or get blasted!" yelled a marine.

"Um, clearly there must be some kind of mistake," said Taleth. "There's no mistake, Taleth," said Zara, "We know who you are."

Taleth sighed. "Fine...killing is so messy but Seleni seems to enjoy it...oh," he said. The 'oh' was when two of the marines seemed to have already stunned Seleni.

"Well, at least I still have Janeth on my...oh, come on!" The last remark was when he spotted Janeth with his hands and feet bound together like a calf. Chip was standing over him. "What should we do with him?" asked Chip. "I say we brand this varmint," said Draco, heating up an iron brand with his fire breath.

PlasMorph was holding said brand. Taleth sighed. "Ok, we surrender, just keep the Brothers Weirdo away from Janeth," he said, pointing at the experiments.

"Weirdos? Where?" said Morph, turning around and causing the brand to hit Chip on the backside. Chip yelped and leapt up into the air. He landed in a full rain barrel, much to his relief.

--

It was later and Matt was finally asleep again. The Elders had put some kind of holding circle round the Shar-Virk that would hold them in place until they decided what to do with the trio.

Then Matt felt something poke him in the side. He ignored the poking till it got too much and he swatted at it with his tail. That earned him a few more seconds of rest before a heavy book was dropped on his head.

"GAH...OK, WHO'S THE WISE GUY?" he yelled, getting up again and stopping in terror as he saw it was his sister. Anyone watching would be impressed how a near-adult dragon seemed to back up from a seemingly normal human.

"Taleth wants to see you...alone. No idea why," Chloe said. Matt looked confused. "Hey. I couldn't have swatted you. Who did I hit?" he said. Chloe sighed and pointed to where Chris was in an imprint in the wall. "Ow..." he said

--

Matt was rather annoyed by having his sleep disturbed, but he probably should go see what Taleth wanted. But he wasn't dumb enough to go alone and had Spyro and Cynder come along.

Taleth had turned human again and was sitting with his two pals in a circle of crystals. A wall of translucent energy separated them from the outside world...and the three marines holding heavy ion cannons. "Aw, Mr. Lynch, don't you trust me? You look a bit off."

"I don't toss you as far as I can throw you," said Matt, "And I've very much tempted to see how far that is." "How are you going to do so without hands?" said Taleth tauntingly.

Matt growled. "Drop it. I already know how to turn human again," he said. Taleth leaned back. "Too wrong, takes concentration. I know a little trick. How do you think me and my people managed to not end up in the same boat as Xavier?" he said.

"What are you talking about?" asked Matt. "Oh, haven't you guessed by now?" said Seleni, "Dragon DNA eventually dominates the other DNA in a host's body. I believe that's why your chimera friend's having difficulty changing forms now."

"What chimera?" said Matt. "Miss Omnirus. She came to me for components for a DNA inhibitor. You'll eventually end up like Xavier, a permanent resident," he said, "...unless...well I do have a cure."

"What kind of cure?" said Spyro suspiciously. "Careful, Matt," said Cynder, "He can't be up to anything honest."

Taleth pulled out a little vial. "Just drink this. I usually use it in my...recruitment, but you could use it," said Taleth, throwing the vial over the top of the field to land in front of them. Cynder stepped back. "I can smell the corruption from here..." she said.

"Yes," said Taleth, "I suppose you would know much about corruption."

Cynder glared as Taleth carried on. "The terror of the skies, what a pleasure, I never saw you in person till now but I followed your work. Seleni was a big fan," he said nastily.

Cynder was about to slash at Taleth with her tail when Spyro stopped her. "That's just what he wants," he said, "If you attack him, it'll smash open the prison. Besides, you're a completely different person now."

"Oh, you can't get rid of your dark side forever. Any Shar-Khan can tell you that," said Taleth. "Let's go. This guy's got nothing," said Matt, glaring daggers at Taleth who waved. "Come again. You ever get tired of the hero gig, I have a job opening."

--

Not long afterwards, Taleth a rather surprising request. He wanted to see Kala now.

Matt was in human form. "You be careful, just yell and the marines'll be in like a shot," he said. Kala said, "They're in that energy field. I'll be fine."

Then Kala walked towards the prison. She gave Janeth a short glare, but she didn't say anything except, "What could you want from me?"

Taleth looked at her. "And how are we, Miss Kai...I mean Kala. Are you and Mr. Lynch happy?" he said.

Kala glared at Taleth and said, "I don't think that's any of your business."

"Well, I feel it's my duty. I have a psy-dragon form...and I can sense how worried you are...what is it? Worried that the species gaps turning into a grand canyon?" said Taleth, in a sympathetic voice.

Kala tensed and said, "What does it matter to you? I bet you're enjoying our strife. I know she does." Taleth glanced to see Seleni trying hard to keep her face straight.

"I, unlike Seleni, have all my marbles intact...and I find it so sad when young love ends in disaster. I'm nearly 2000 years old. I've seen so much," said Taleth.

Kala looked at Taleth suspiciously. "You age very well then," she said.

"I like to think so. Now then, I could help you and Mr. Lynch. I have no way of escape and unlike my associates I don't believe on revenge," said Taleth, pointing to the vial where Matt had dropped it.

"What's this supposed to be?" asked Kala, picking it up.

"A way for you and Mr. Lynch to get together like the crazy kids you are," said Taleth. Janeth was about to say something but stopped when he saw Taleth make a hand motion.

Kala blushed and said, "That's a private memory. I do not appreciate you looking at that."

"Oh, didn't see the details. But that serum should help...even the odds," said Taleth.

"What will it do?" asked Kala. "It's the formula that Matt and his sister got when they came to Nullspace, only refined," said Taleth, "Of course, we haven't used it on a genetic experiment, but I think it'll work fine." Kala lifted an eyebrow and said, "You just happen to be carrying this around?"

"How do you think I did my own recruitment?" Taleth said.

--

After that, Kala went to the room she was given. She didn't trust Taleth at all, but she held onto the vial. Right now, she was sitting on her bed, looking at the serum in the vial.

She wasn't sure what to do. If what Taleth said was correct, she'd lose Matt forever.

She studied the bottle carefully. Apparently, the NSC had been cloning her blood in case anything happened to her, so there was a safety line there. And then there was the idea of Matt always being too big for her. "Oh, if I'm damned for this, so be it," she said. She uncorked the vial and swallowed its contents in one gulp.

Matt meanwhile was wandering to Kala's quarters. He'd felt guilty about Kala. He'd eventually end up trapped as a dragon and might even outlive her. He'd managed to turn human and was almost at her door when he heard something. "Kala?" he said, seeing a human silhouette at the window. He ignited a plasma ball and got ready to kick the door down when it was opened.

"Ok, whoever's in there, come out with your hands out and identify yourself," said Matt. But he was surprising the red-haired woman ran out and hugged him. "Matt, it's me, Kala," she said.

Matt looked confused. "Kala? How...GAH...SPINE...THAT'S NOT HUMAN STRENGTH!" he said feeling his spine creaking.

"Oh, sorry, not used to this body yet," said Kala. Matt looked at her. It was he remembered her last in that form, short red hair, green eyes, a curvy... Matt felt his face heat up. "Um, Kala," he said, "I think you better find some coverage before someone sees you."

--

A few embarrassing minutes later and Kala was standing in front of the others, dragons and mercenaries alike. Matt was holding the empty vial. "You took Taleth's gunk?" he said, angrily.

Cynder sniffed and said, "It's the same stuff alright. Or at least it was."

Matt turned to glare at Kala. "Why did you drink it?" he said.

"Matt, I did it to be with you," said Kala, "I just couldn't stand being apart from you and Taleth's solution seemed to be the only one that would work."

"Dammit, is Dr Willis aboard the Bladestorm?" said Matt, turning to Chloe.

"He is," said Chloe, "We'll have down as soon as we can." "Why? What are you doing?" asked Kala.

"You can't stay like this. You forgot Kai?" said Matt.

"Oh...Matt...I thought you'd understand..." said Kala, her voice choked with tears. She abruptly transformed into a red dragon and flew off.

Matt ran after her, turning dragon to take off. "Kala, wait...OW!" he said, accidently messing up flying out the window and clunking his head.

"Oh, this could be bad," said Contrinus. "Oh don't worry," said PlasMorph, "Matt gets hit on the head all the time."

Kala however had landed in a quiet part of the city and was crying. "Why...why did he act like that?" she said.

"_Perhaps he doesn't like the shift in power."_ Kala sat up and looked around. "Who's there?" she asked.

_"Look in the puddle, dear,"_ said the voice. Kala looked down and almost took off in fright. Her reflection's eyes were glowing purple. "_My dear...it's been too long,_" said the voice of Kai in the puddle.

"You can't be real," said Kala, "You must be a hallucination of some kind. Something Taleth slipped in with that potion."

"Oh no_, you really didn't read the fine print. Haven't you wondered where Draconus came from?_" said Kai, laughing.

"Well, isn't he a collection of all the negative Matt's encountered over the years?" asked Kala. Kai laughed and said, "_So naive. It's almost too easy to accept._"

"_He was there the minute he gained the ability for his second form...nameless...but there..._" said Kai.

Kala started to realize what the implications were coming towards. "You can't have my body," she said. "_Can't I?_" said Kai, "_This has been practically coming ever since you made that transfusion with NegaMorph. Darkness just doesn't settle to the bottom of the heart and lies dormant. It grows until it can consume the heart. And you're about to experience that firsthand._"

Kala tried to back away but her legs didn't want to move. "_Don't worry your precious head,_" said Kai before her shade shot out the puddle and down Kala's throat.

Kala tried to scream, but something kept her larynx shut. Of course, this was all taking place in her head, so any passerby would have just seen a red young adult dragoness suddenly start convulsing.

After a minute, Kala closed her eyes, as if in a trance...and Kai opened them. "Ah, it's good to be out and about," she said before remembering something. "Oh, might as well help who got me out," she said before taking off.

--

The guards looked over in half-interest as a fire dragoness landed in front of them. "Off limits, get lost," said the leader.

"Sorry, I've got business with Taleth," said the dragoness before unleashing a flamethrower-like attack at them.

The first two guards were incinerated, but the third managed to reach her comm. "Miss Lynch...we're under attack by a..." she never finished as a fireball hit her in the back.

Kai glanced around at the charred bodies. "Nothing personal," she said and proceeded on past.

Taleth looked up in confusion when the doors had their hinges melted into puddles. The doors fell forward and a red dragoness walked in, shimmering into Kai's human form. "You look like you're in trouble," she said cockily.

Taleth grinned and said, "We were wondering how long you'd get here." Seleni glanced at her watch and said, "Ha, not even midnight, pay up." Janeth groaned and pulled some credits out of his pocket before handing them over.

Kai said, "Hmm...well...Mr. Lynch is quite nice in any form...and I can do a good impersonation, even if I have to fake my name," she said evilly.

"True," said Taleth, returning the grin, "However, I hope you'll be able to find it convenient of letting us out? Sooner being more preferable to later."

Kai pretended to consider it. "Oh well, he's too much of a saint for my liking," she said and kicked a crystal out of place.

The barrier around them promptly fell down, allowing the three Shar-Virk to join their new comrade. "I'm glad you approve," said Taleth, "Of course, we have plenty of males that could match Matt." He gave her a sparkling smile. Kai eyed him up and down and said, "Put on some muscle and we'll talk."

Janeth walked to look outside while Seleni snarled at Kai, "Taleth is mine...back off, sister." A bang got their attention as Janeth shot back at a flat trajectory. A plasma ball was carrying him backwards.

Matt came in a moment later. "Alright, everyone back behind you..." his voice trailed off as the plasma orb he had in his hand flickered out. His jaw dropped as he stared at the red dragoness with tiger stripes. "K-Kala?" he said faintly.

"Half right, 'dear'," taunted Kai, before firing a fireball at Matt, hitting him dead center.

Matt was thrown backwards, but not burned like the guards outside. A few seconds later, the others ran in after they heard the alarm go off.

Chloe, Spyro, and Cynder landed first. "MATT!" yelled Chloe in horror.

"INCOMING!" shouted Spyro and tackled Chloe out of the way as a jet of poisonous liquid just missed her.

Seleni flapped in the air above. "Hi. You look familiar. Have I attacked you somewhere before?" she said to Spyro, before spitting another jet of her corrosive poison at them.

"How did they get out of there?" asked Cynder. "Oh, we had a little inside help," said Taleth before sending a psychic blast that knocked the air from underneath her wings.

Taleth transformed to his dragon form and lunged at her. "Let's see what's in that head...ARGH!" he said, wincing as Cynder bit him.

The two dragons thrashed with each other in midair while Chloe was trying to get around Janeth and to her brother.

Matt however had just gotten up, his knockout having caused him to turn back to dragon form. He looked up to see Kai barely a meter from him. "Get away from me and give me Kala back, you slimeball," he growled, getting up.

"Oh, Matt, I think that if you're a bit more adventurous, you'll find me a lot better," said Kai, "I'm not as held-back as Kala and I know so many ways to please a man." She slid her tail across his neck and said, "What do you say, handsome? I'm a better lover than you could possibly fantasize about."

"How about nom?" Matt said. Kai said, "Nom?" and went wide eyed as Matt bit her tail making a 'nom' noise.

Kai hissed slightly, but she didn't move. "Oh, like it rough, do you?" she said, "I can do that too." Before Matt could move, Kala slashed Matt down his back, leaving very shallow, but still stinging, scratches.

Matt winced. "Now I know you can't access her memories, otherwise you wouldn't have done that," he said. Kai looked confused before a lightning bolt hit her in the side and sent her flying.

Chloe landed besides Kai snarling. "No one hurts my brother and-" Chloe stopped when she got a good look at the dragon. "Kala?"

"Again...close," said Kai and aimed a slash at Chloe's face.

Chloe screeched and reared back. The scratches weren't deep, but they stung like a whip.

A laser blast hit the rock above Kai's head as Chris, Techo, Talia and Wilson turned up. "I think it's time we left, dear," said Taleth, pushing Cynder down with a crash on top of Spyro.

"Where can we go?" said Kai. "There should be something in the catacombs we can use to get out of here," said Taleth.

Seleni sent a blast of her acid poison at the group, forcing them to take cover. She got her claws ready to slash the knocked out Cynder's throat when Taleth snapped "SELENI!" "Another time then," she sneered at the dazed Cynder.

The four Shar-Virk quickly ran off, Kai leading them to the catacombs' entrance.

Matt was just staring at nothing. Chloe sighed, turning back to human. "Let's go," she said, looking at Matt.

Matt didn't respond to her at all. "Matt, come on," said Chloe. She was about to push him when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked back to see NegaMorph. "Leave him alone," he said, "I know what he's going through. You won't be able to snap him out of it in time."

Chloe glared. "Well, let's drag this 'Kai' back here and beat her out of Kala...and while we're at it, let's shoot Taleth and his mates!" she yelled, pointing at the catacombs. Spyro and Cynder came round to see the group of mercs go charging by.

"C'mon, we've got wyrms to catch," said NegaMorph as he stopped to help the two dragons to their feet.

He said, "No offence," quickly before following the mercs. Spyro said, "The ape skeletons, they're running into a nightmare." NegaMorph shrugged, "Why do you care what happens to the apes?"

--

Meanwhile, the Shar-Virk were heading deep into the catacombs. The mercs were not for behind them so they kept running. There were a couple of ape skeletons that tried to attack them, but they were swiftly dealt with.

The distant explosions as more skeletons tried their luck on the mercenaries were heard. "Why won't they die?" snarled Kai.

"If you were able to access of Kala's memories, you'd remember that those humans are a particularly tenacious bunch," said Janeth.

"Well I can't. I thought the best was to bury her and bury her deep," retorted Kai. Taleth had led them out of the main caves and into a maze of tunnels that Matt, Cynder, Sonya, and Spyro had never gotten near. These areas were not as run down but were rusted almost to pieces. The tunnel ended at a blastdoor so covered in rust the joins could not be seen.

"Oh, bravo, Taleth," said Seleni rudely.

Taleth smacked her into a wall and said, "I think you're forgetting who's the leader around here. Do you think you can step up and take command?"

Seleni made a mewling noise but backed off. "No...sir..." she said. Taleth glared at her. "Then burn that door down," he said.

Seleni decided not to protest and started spitting acid to burn away the door's hinges.

Chloe and her team ran in just behind them. "Ok...nobody's going anywhere," Chloe said.

Kai looked around for something that could be used as a distraction. She spotted a dark-colored crystal embedded in the wall. Think it was probably some kind of old energy conduit, she reached over and pulled it out.

Taleth turned in horror. He knew that crystal and what it was plugged into. "KAI, NO!" he yelled as the ground started shaking.

--

Outside, Matt was snapped out of it as a beam of energy shot out the mountain range containing the catacombs, heading skyward.

"What the heck was that?" he said. "I don't know," said Draco, who had just gotten there, "But I do not like the looks of it."

WARDEN recorded the beam shooting up to hit a point just beyond the moons orbit. When it did the beam seemed to change color, as if blackness was travelling back. He logged it for future reference.

--

Meanwhile, NegaMorph, Spyro, and Cynder had just gotten to where mercs and Shar-Virk were when a wave of darkness suddenly seemed to pour out from where Kai and pulled out the crystal.

The darkness seemed to coat everything, dampening lights, even the halogen torches the marines had were at half strength. "I think we should leave...now. I'll have a word with you later, Kai," said Taleth angrily.

The darkness made a very effective smokescreen and allowed the Shar-Virk to sneak away from the mercs. However, NegaMorph was very adapt in working in the dark and quickly followed them.

NegaMorph got through to emerge in what seemed to be a selection of teleport gates, smaller versions of the ones that had encountered a week ago. Taleth had activated one and had obviously sent Seleni and Janeth through. "KALA! DON'T DO THIS!" he yelled.

Taleth glanced in NegaMorph's directed and sent a powerful psychic wave to throw him away. However, NegaMorph showed incredible resistance by slowly moving through the wave towards Kai.

Taleth sighed and pulled out an ion dagger, throwing it at NegaMorph, who kept going even with it in his chest. "Persistent, aren't you?" he said amused.

"I made a promise...to keep Kala from corruption...and I mean to keep it!" said NegaMorph, his Lockblade appearing in his hand.

"Very well, let's see who is most comfortable? Ma'am?" he said releasing the psychic block.

"Kala...please..." said NegaMorph. "Sorry, but I don't go by that alias anymore," said Kai, "However, I do feel grateful for you giving her the darkness need for me to come into existence. Allow me to…thank you." She snatched the Lockblade from NegaMorph's hand and before it could vanish back into his grip, she drove straight through his stomach.

"Tell Matthew he knows where to find me," she said and kicked him back before stepping into the portal with Taleth.

--

Meanwhile, Chloe and company had managed to get some sight back. The darkness seemed to have flowed into the walls or into the roof. Some sixth sense was screaming at her though. "Guns up...stay alert," she ordered.

PlasMorph, who had been among the group, got a little sidetracked and walked into a corner. He was looking around to see where he was at when movement caught his eye. He turned to see a small creature that vaguely resembled an ant with only two arms and two legs. Its body was black while its eyes glowed yellow.

"Hello little guy," said Morph. The creature just looked at Morph and twitched, as if in excitement. "I shall call him Jitters and he shall be mine and he shall be my Jitters. Come here, Jitters, come here boy." He reached out his hand only for the creature to scratch it with its claws. "Ow! Bad Jitters! Bad Jitters!"

About ten more appeared before a snarl was heard and a raptor-shaped creature came into view. It looked at Morph and hissed 'Hearrrrt'

"Morph, where have you gotten to?" called Chloe. She and the marines looked into the corner and saw the creatures. They all tensed and Chloe said, "PlasMorph, don't...move..." Suddenly, another raptor creature appeared in the back and grabbed one of the marines before pulling him away.

"Shit, that what I think it is?" said a marine, looking around to see more of the tiny creatures around them. He turned more to see what was left of the marine that had been pulled away, and the creature that had done it.

"Guys, we have to get out of here," said one of the marines. "NegaMorph and Kai are still out there," said Chloe.

Several of the mini creatures were looking at Cynder with an air of confusion. "Guys...what are these things doing here? The quarantine lines lightyears away," said Techo.

"I don't know," said Chloe, "But we have to get out of here right now. We don't have the equipment to deal with these things."

"Huuumans..." said the first raptor creature. Closer up you could see similarities between it and the tiny creatures, how they seemed to be made of the same...blackness...the eyes...but unlike their tiny creatures, these had a look of pure hatred.

The smaller creatures started getting closer to the group, especially towards Cynder. Eventually, one of the marines lost his nerve and fired on the creatures.

This seemed to be the flood gates opening as the creatures went mental, lunging at the group. Chloe watched as the raptor jumped on one of the marines and shoved its fist into the unfortunate trooper's chest, pulling out a glowing object. The marine seemed to zone out before vanishing.

The glowing object remained in the raptor's clutches for a few more seconds before it suddenly got covered in darkness. Then the darkness grew and formed into another creature that looked slightly like the smaller ones except in a suit of blue knight's armor.

Chloe shot a bolt of lightning at it which seemed to work better then the bullets...that seemed to just go through them. This bolt sent the new creature back into the wall where it burst into black mist upon impact. The two raptor creatures whipped their heads round to look at her. "Shar-Khaaaan," hissed one of them before aiming its hand at them. The hand shifted into a cannon and charged up.

Spyro and Cynder blasted that one with fire and poison, respectively. The raptor dissipated into dark wisps, but now the creatures looked like they were actually going to attack.

--

Meanwhile, NegaMorph had just regained consciousness. He could easily heal from the damage his Lockblade had done, but the blow Kai had delivered to his heart will take much longer to heal from.

A scream was heard from the other room. A terrified marine ran into view before a black beam hit him in the back, coating him in the gunk before vanishing...along with the marine.

"Looks I can't stay unconscious for only two minutes without trouble starting," said NegaMorph as he started to get up.

He wandered round the corner to see a scene of utter mayhem. The marines were losing badly against the creatures, another two having fallen and been...converted.

"Looks like I came back just in time," said NegaMorph. He started blasting various creatures with negative energy blasts.

The creatures did seem bothered by this except for six of the ant creatures to lunge at him.

At this, NegaMorph swung the Lockblade in a cutting arc. The blade passed through the creatures like a hot knife through butter, causing them to burst into dark mist.

His victory was short lived as a marine was dragged down, screaming. His gun went off striking the roof which began to sprout a spiderweb of cracks with a selection of crunching noises.

"This place is going to cave in!" called Spyro, "We have to get out of here now!" "But Kai-" started Chloe. "She's left," said NegaMorph, guilt tracing his voice, "I couldn't stop her."

The remaining raptor creature hissed at them. "My masters kill you soon..." he said before melting into the wall in a fashion usually seen done by NegaMorph.

The marines quickly started running out of the cavern. PlasMorph has been clinging to Chloe's back ever since 'Jitters' and his friends attacked him. Fortunately, Spyro and Cynder were able to carry themselves out.

Suddenly, a group of the ant creatures appeared in front of them. "Get out of our way!" shouted NegaMorph. The creatures looked at NegaMorph with twitching antennas. And then to everyone's surprise, they parted and left a large enough gap for the group to pass through.

"Work it out later! Let's move out!" yelled Chloe. The group charged out onto the main catacomb area just in time, a cloud of rock dust shooting out behind them.

The group paused to catch their breaths. "Ok, could someone please explain what those things were?" asked Spyro, "I've never seen anything like them."

"We can tell. You're breathing, aren't you?" said Techo, hands on his knees. He looked ready to throw up. "We call em Heartless, but there's 3000 ships between us and them. That was impossible," said Wilson.

"Well, of course they were mean, but don't you think that it's a bit much to call them heartless?" asked Morph.

"No, Heartless, with a capital 'H'," said Wilson, "They're creatures born from the darkness in people's hearts and they steal other people's hearts to turn them into Heartless too. They are extremely bad news." "How bad are we talking here?" asked Cynder.

"We first met em during the NSC/Combine war. They attacked Home system, where both our fleets were fighting. Attacked us both and vaporized our world, leaving just Central station. We dunno how they did it, but it took both our fleets to stop them." said Wilson.

"What? But don't the Combine have battleships that can blow other ships to particles?" asked Cynder.

"Yeah...and those ships you saw were light frigates. The Heartless fought heavy battleships, the full might of both our fleets...and we only just won," said Wilson. Techo said, "My dad was there. He saw Central world just...evaporate..."

"So now we have to deal with them here," said NegaMorph, "But why did they listen to me when I told them to move? And how comes my weapon was able to destroy them so easily when yours couldn't?"

"The H.Q.F use positively charged plasma to kill Heartless. Bullets are about as good as spitting. I can jury rig some plasma rifles up," said Techo. Wilson said, "We have to call the H.Q.F. in. We can't handle this alone."

"No use," said Chloe, "They'll take a week to get here. By then, this place would be eaten alive."

"We have to call em anyway. We can't hold out alone. If we don't call em, the only other option is evacuation," said Wilson angrily. They emerged out of the catacombs to see Matt, Draco, and Chip. "Chloe..." said Matt, running up to her and hugging Chloe. Their dragons forms allowing them to hug proper...even if they had to use their wings to do it.

"Matt, I hope you can forgive me," said NegaMorph. "For what?" asked Matt. "I tried to stop Kai, but she got away. I made a promise to keep her from corruption, but I couldn't prevent it. I failed."

Matt's eyes blazed and NegaMorph was shot back, a faint blue aura round him into a wall where he was pushed painfully into it. "You...YOU!!!" said Matt, a faint plasma aura forming as his rage attack charged.

"Matt, really, I tried my best to stop her..." said NegaMorph. "YOU LET HER GO!!" yelled Matt.

NegaMorph winced as Matt began to make parts of his plasma molecule makeup fly off. "I'll kill you for this...you...traitor!!" said Matt before a bolt of lightning hit him in the back. "Matthew Lynch, calm down, you fool," hissed Chloe.

Matt growled angrily at Chloe. "Matt, NegaMorph is telling the truth. I'm afraid that Kai has too much power now. I wouldn't have had any better luck if I was there."

Matt looked at NegaMorph, before his eyes glowed, releasing him. Matt looked at the shocked faces on the others before spreading his wings and taking off, ignoring the cries after him.

Chloe went over to NegaMorph and said, "Nega, I'm sorry about what happened." "It's ok," said NegaMorph, "I went through the same thing when you left."

--

Matt flew down to the park where the sheep were kept. He'd taken to going here when feeling miserable...needless to say the first few months he'd been trapped in Avalar had been spent there. He lay down, sobbing silently, watching the park.

A couple of minutes later, Draco came to him. "Hey...Matt," said Draco, "I just want to say how sorry I am about this. But we can get Kala back. As a matter of fact, I think everyone's been turned evil and then brought back at some point. Except Morph. Heaven forbid him going to the dark side."

Matt turned his head, baring his teeth. "Go away," he growled angrily.

"Matt, you know that you can always count on us," said Draco, "Nothing will stop us from getting to Kai and changing her back. Not Taleth, not Ghoulwyrm, not Malefor's ghost, not even the Heartless invasion will stop us." Matt was about to snarl at him when he heard the last part. "Whoa, whoa, wait a minute, what was that last part?"

"The Heartless, we bumped into some in the catacombs," said Draco and jumped back as Matt jumped up. "How...the quarantine line's weeks away," he said.

"From what I heard, Kai pulled out some kind of crystal and this wave of darkness came out," said Draco, "I don't understand it any better than the others."

"And Heartless jumped out?" said Matt.

"Uh, I'm not sure, you'll have to ask someone who was there," said Draco, "Boy, you're really tensed up. You know what you need? Comedy relief and I know just where to find it. C'mon, this'll be classic."

Matt looked out sadly at the park before following.

--

Matt followed Draco to where the crew was staying where NegaMorph was watching the stars through a window. Matt and Draco hid behind a corner. "I don't get it," whispered Matt, "What's so funny?" "Shush, just wait a minute," said Draco. Suddenly, a voice yelled, "NEGAMORPH!" Chloe stomped down the hallway in a dressing gown, her face beet red. Actually, it wasn't just her face that was red.

NegaMorph had about a second to see her before he was blasted into the distance. Matt couldn't help it and was about to laugh when Draco clamped his jaws shut.

About a minute later, NegaMorph came back, the blast causing his pink skin to somewhat resemble his usual black. "Ok, ok, you got my skin turned pink, I got your skin changed red, now we're even," he said.

Chloe said, "Er...your hat," pointing down the hall.

"Hey, who put my hat down there?" said NegaMorph. As he was walking towards it, he didn't notice the spiderbots clustered on the ceiling. Suddenly, they released two restrained logs on ropes which swung down and smashed NegaMorph's head between them. The spiderbots giggled madly until NegaMorph regenerated his head and picked up his hat. "Who's laughing now?" he said, "I got my hat."

Said hat was beeping. Matt just covered his eyes as the landmine in said hat exploded.

Chloe then started doubling up with laughter, forgetting her dyed skin for the moment.

--

Meanwhile, the raptor Heartless had reappeared in the Ancient Grove at the head of the Silver River. It had sensed darkness here of a very useable kind.

It looked around, sniffing before hearing a whirring noise coming from a path. It turned to see a badly-damaged cyborg stagger round a corner.

A dark voice rumbled from its throat, "This stupid body. I'll get revenge on that black wyrm for forcing me out of Spyro's body. And on Lynch for trapping me in here."

It looked up to see the Heartless standing there. "An old one?" he said in shock, raising his hand to aim his wrist blaster.

"Noooo haaaaarm," said the creature.

Malefor stared at the Heartless suspiciously. "And why would you not harm me?" he said.

"Ssssame foessss," hissed the Heartless.

Malefor glared. "And who do you face?" "Shaaaar-Khaaaan," said the Heartless. Malefor snarled. "I want the Shar-khan, Matthew...and the dragon Spyro...and I want them dead." "Uuuussss toooooo," said the Heartless.

Malefor snarled, "This world is rightfully mine...and I want rid of this...mongrel body...I WANT MY BODY BACK!!"

"Weeee caaaaaan heeeeeeelp," said the Heartless, motioning for Malefor to follow it.

**Uh oh…looks like Matt wasn't the only survivor and to make tings worse…Malefors got some new backers by the looks of things…tune in next time.**


	3. Hot Water

**Spyro, Cynder, and all other Spyro related characters are property of Sierra studios. **

**Draco, Contrinus, Chip and Cydra are property of my co-author, Cydra. **

**Matt, his merc team, the NSC and related tech, the ancients/atlanteans and malefors dragon generals are mine.**

**CPS Chronicles**

**Soulless Abyss**

**Chapter 3: Hot Water**

It had been only a day since Kala had gone and the events in the catacombs and Chloe was worried. Matt had moved back into his quarters aboard the Nighthawk and locked himself away. He hadn't come out to eat or drink anything.

"We need to get him out of there," said Chloe, "It's not healthy to hold himself up in there all the time." "We could have Morph turn into Mr. Stenchy and toss him there," suggested Draco, "That'd get him out." "Or he might turn violent," said Chloe. She and Draco looked at the door before a blasting was heard.

"We better get in there," said Chloe. "I wouldn't bother try to blast our way in," said Draco, "He's put a protective shield over the door. You'd need a battering ram to have any luck at... Why are you looking at me like that?"

Matt was face down on his bed, plasma blaster in hand when the wall around his doorframe melted and the hatch fell inside. Chloe put Draco down (having used him as an impromptu blowtorch) and walked in, almost falling over one of the 6 litre bottles of kr-ta.

Chloe picked up a bottle and said, "Matt, if you're going to turn to drink, I suggest you do it with beer and not something that's been known to cause liver explosions with overdoses."

Matt turned his head to look. One of his eyes was draconic, probably from all the Kr-Ta. "Who cares anymore...no more Kala...no more anything...haha," he said in a miserable voice, revealing he was laying on a 7th bottle. He blasted the cap off and began gulping it down.

Chloe pulled the bottle from his hand before he could finish it off. "Hey...give that back," said Matt, swinging his fist at her only to miss by a whole foot. "Matt, this is really pathetic. Don't tell me this is what you did after I disappeared."

"No...well...I did experiment with Vasinoc Nectar," Matt said, trying to get both eyes staring in the same place.

Chloe sighed and zapped Matt's head with a lightning bolt, hoping to get his synapses running again.

Matt burped out a smoke ring. "Mwreh...gimme the bottle," he said, making another lunge. Chloe put one hand out and caught Matt's forehead. It was pathetically easy to keep him at bay. "Matt, are you really just going to waste yourself all day thinking about Kala, or are you going to try and save her like you did me?" she said.

"Hey...were you trapped with a total half-dragon nutball who had remained hidden for 4000 years?" said Matt, suddenly icily sober.

Chloe considered this for a minute before saying, "No, but being one of Emperor Hamsterviel's generals wasn't any easier. In fact, I think the odds you had of saving me were slimmer than the odds of saving Kala."

"Oh yeah...I only won cause I tricked NegaMorph into giving me a free shot...not to mention without Omnirus playing' brain drain'...I would have been killed..." said Matt, gloomily.

"Matt, you said the Fates were always out to get you. But if they truly were, they would have never let you reunite with me. I believe it's the same way with Kala. I believe you two are destined to be together," said Chloe.

"No...she's gone," said Matt, before glaring. "Go away...I'm no hero..." he said, pointing dizzily at the door.

"You're no hero?" said Draco, "You've save this planet, twice, you brought down that Kurata creep, made a mockery of Echidra and her minions, also twice, stopped an Infected invasion, twice again, and defeated countless other bad guys. If that doesn't qualify as a hero, I don't know what does."

"Not much point if...HEY...did you talk to Mark the last time he was aboard?" said Matt, glaring at Draco who suddenly learnt an innocent face. Chloe said, "Well, the elders want to see us all, about the...problem we found in the catacombs. Techo's already got some positron plasma rifles ready."

"Ok, ok, fine," said Matt, "Maybe blasting Heartless will make me feel better." He stood up only to lose his balance. Chloe sighed and said, "Here, lean on me."

--

The dragons were waiting outside when they saw Chloe come round the corner, helping Matt. "He's taking Kala's loss really badly," explained Chloe as she dumped Matt in a seat.

Matt twitched at the mention of Kala's name and began singing 'NOBODY KNOWS THE TROUBLE I'VE SEEN!!' What was more worrying was that he was singing in tune. "Hmm, this really is serious," said Terrador, "I never seen a warrior become this depressed." Cyril sniffed the air and winced. "And I'm pretty sure the stench is atypical as well."

"No...Draco had garlic bread," said Chloe. Zara looked at Matt. "Will someone shut him up?" Chloe pulled out a roll of duct tape and quickly strapped Matt down as well as taping his mouth shut. "When it doubt, duct it," she said smugly.

The group went into the hall, dragging Matt along after them. Morgan and three Atlanteans in some kind of armour were waiting for them. "Now we're all here...why is Mr. Lynch covered in adhesive?" said Morgan.

"He's just being depressed right now," said Chloe, "Trust me, you don't hear him like this." Morgan sighed. "We are here to discuss what occurred in the catacombs below Warfang," he said. "Yes, the Heartless," said Chloe, sitting down, "They're going to be a big problem." "The...Heartless you call them. How many are we likely to deal with? We only have a basic defense force," said Morgan.

"I'm not certain," said Chloe, "But the Heartless are known to mass-produce troops of themselves. They mostly rely on instinct, but they can be controlled, particularly by people who have a great connection with darkness. Also, they're immune to non-magical weapons."

"We fought worse...and Ion blades kill anything," said Morgan. Zara said, "Your...sergeant Morgan said your people regularly fight these monsters. He called them the H.Q.F."

Matt immediately made a muffled noise. Chloe correctly interpreted it and said, "I don't think that's such a good idea. The HQF take the Heartless very seriously. If they can't stop them, they'll quarantine the planet and force everyone off. They've done it before."

The Elders looked grim at that but Wilson looked annoyed."Chloe...you nuts? We don't have the gear for a Heartless infestation," he said. "Not at the moment," said Chloe, "But I think we can put a few things together. Besides, dragons' breath is magic and we have NegaMorph's Lockblade. That's enough to give us some advantage."

"Against what? We're outnumbered and outgunned," said Wilson, angrily. Matt motioned for his gag to be removed. Chloe obliged and ripped off the five o'clock shadow that developed during Matt's drunken state. Matt winced and said, "Ow. Listen, I've almost literally went through hell and back to keep this place from becoming another outpost. This place is not meant to be another Diego Garcia."

"Lynch, for Ancients' sake, see sense. The NSC and Combine had trouble holding them off. This is not a loner job. You want another Praxis?" Matt glared at Wilson and said, "I am captain here and my word is law. And my word is that no one is contacting the HQF, period."

Wilson glared. "Yes...sir," he said nastily and stomped out. Wilson didn't go far. He knew that Matt was not thinking straight and he realized that the planet needed outside help. He sat down in a quiet square and told WARDEN to uplink to the NSC. "NSC control? This is mercenary Jonas Wilson. We have a situation here..."

--

However, Matt was still depressed over Kala. Chloe found him on the city's ramparts, seemingly contemplating whether to throw himself off or not. Chloe said, "You know, it won't work. You'll just transform out of reflex." Matt sighed, "I dunno. You think we were too hard on Wilson?"

"Well, we weren't there when the Heartless first attacked the NSC," said Chloe, "He's probably got deeper issues with them than we do." "Maybe he was right. This is alot bigger than the other stuff we've handled before," said Matt. "True," said Chloe, "I just we could do that without this place becoming another NSC outpost. If only this were some higher-class dimension, like a B or C class."

Matt sighed. "No...this place needs the NSC like I need a bullet in the head," he said. Chloe looked at her wrist as her wrist computer beeped. "What could that be about?" said Chloe as pressed a button.

"Sir, I received a message from NSC logistics. They say your request was received and a HQF unit has been dispatched," said WARDEN. "Wait a second," said Matt, "I didn't call for the HQF."

"A communication was sent via our ID..." said WARDEN. Matt's eyes went white as he got a good idea who had sent it. "Wilson," he said, transforming to dragon form and flying off in the direction of the Nighthawk.

Wilson was heading back to the Nighthawk when a loud roar was heard. "Uh oh," he said, "Sounds like trouble's coming. And I don't think it's villainous." He turned to see Matt land at the other end of the street, practically foaming at the mouth. "Wilson...you're dead," he said.

"Er, it wasn't my idea to sell those weapons," said Wilson quickly, "I knew that was a bad idea from the beginning." Matt glared and spat a ball of fire at Wilson, who dodged the blast. "You called the NSC...you selfish idiot," snarled Matt, pinning him.

"Oh, that," said Wilson, "Matt, you really have no idea what these Heartless are like. We don't have the firepower to deal with them." Matt glared. "You doomed this planet..." he said, baring his teeth. Just then, Sonya and Smoldron flew by. They spotted Matt pinning Wilson and looking very angry. "Uh oh," said Smoldron, "Something tells me Matt's training had a minor flaw in it."

"We better go down and stop him before he does anything rash," said Sonya. Matt glared. "You stupid idiot, you know perfectly well what they'll do when they get here? Game over!" he roared.

Then a blast of icy wind hit Matt's back. Sonya and Smoldron landed nearby. "Matt, I'm not sure if it's you right now," said Sonya, "But we can't let you attack Wilson." Matt glared. "He called in the HQF, Sonya. Remember those guys?" he said.

Dragon faces can't really pale, but that's what Sonya's would have done. "What?" she said, "But they'll remove everyone off this planet. Not just the dragons, but the cheetahs, the moles, and even the pirates."

Matt nodded. "And guess who gave them a ring," he said, nodding at the squirming Wilson. Sonya glared at him and said, "You sold us out?"

"If we don't get the pro's in we're either dead or getting a free trip to traverse town," said Wilson angrily.

"And where would these people live after they're done?" demanded Matt, "You just tossed an entire planetary population out of their home." "At least they will live somewhere," said Wilson coldly.

"You sound just like Dante!" said Matt, "You know what? If you want to leave the planet, fine. But you're going on your own ship. I don't want to see you ever again!" Matt got up and walked off with Sonya and a confused Smoldron who was asking who the HQF were, leaving a shocked Wilson.

--

Back at the ship, Chloe and Techo were trying to reason with Matt. "You can't just fire Wilson," said Techo, "He's been with us for years." "That was before he sold out an entire planet, nothing doing," said Matt, angrily.

"Matt, I don't think you're thinking clearly," said Chloe, "You're letting your feelings cloud your judgment." "We all know the HQF are grade one trouble. They're almost as bad as DARKRIFT!" said Matt. "Well, we'll just have to find a way to deal with the Heartless before they get here," said Chloe. Matt sighed. "Fine...but tell WARDEN to authorize a shuttle for Wilson," he said.

Chloe glanced at Techo and muttered, "We're not going to get anywhere regarding Techo right now. Let's just try to work on the Heartless until he cools down."

--

Meanwhile, Malefor had followed the raptor Heartless until they came to a dark chasm. "I might have suspected the Heartless would nest here," said Malefor. "It shall serve till we reclaim what is ours," said the raptor heartless. Malefor nodded and said, "Lead the way." "You have lots of anger. This is good, but this is not your old form. You smell of...dragon," hissed the creature.

"Gee, is it that obvious?" said Malefor in as sarcastic a tone as he could do. The raptor hissed angrily. "Watch your tongue. Only the orders of my master stop me from striping your soul for a minion." "Erm, don't you mean 'heart'?" said Malefor.

The creature bared its teeth and the shadows leapt forward and tangled Malefor up. "I am not one of the mongrel creatures the humans call 'Heartless', know your place." "Very well," said Malefor, keeping a calm face, "Let us proceed." "First off, your form is useless as it is," said the raptor and the shadows moved to begin swallowing Malefor.

"Hey! What are you-" Malefor's protests were swallowed up the darkness along with his. After a minute, the shadows parted, revealing Malefor who was in his old form, only a purple so dark it was nearly black and bits of metal armor covering his body, obviously left over from Tuatara's old form.

"There, your powers are worthy of serving my masters now," said the raptor creature, "...and you will serve them...or you will join the others of this world when they return." Malefor glared back at the raptor creature and said, "If you think I'm going to be doing all the footwork, you're sorely mistaken."

The raptor creature smirked coldly. "You have no choice in the matter. I can easily strip you of that form again..." Malefor glared at him and said, "Well, if I'm going to work for your superiors, I'll need minions to command." "Then summon them," said the creature.

Malefor looked at the creature like it was crazy before saying in a half-hearted tone, "Come to me, my minions." To his surprise, several Soldier Heartless appeared. "They are at your disposal," said the creature.

--

At Mt. Boyitsbig, the Manweresmall Clan of the Moles were getting worried. Mt. Boyitsbig has been unusually active. The leaders thought it was getting ready for a big eruption. Their thoughts were derailed when a shape appeared in the distance. "The dragons have come to...what?" said a sentry, confused as the shape became clearer.

The instant Malefor's shape became clear, the sentry ran screaming for help. Malefor grinned to himself and said, "Such an ideal place for testing out the fiery ones." Several Red Nocturnes and Scarlet Tangos appeared around him. "Destroy everything," he said to the Heartless who turned and headed into the caves, smashing the doors apart with ease.

--

The next day, several dozen moles were seen staggering towards the city in total panic. Their leader went straight to the Elders. "It vas being Malefor for certain," he said. Zara glared at Matt and said, "I thought you had killed him." "So did I," said Matt, "and people say that I'm hard to kill..."

Morgan was still there. "Then it is a good test to see if he leant anything," he said, amused. "Maybe this time I'll throw him into the lava," said Matt, "That always works with evil villains/artifacts." Cynder grinned as Spyro said, "That didn't work last time."

"That was different," said Matt, "Devina jumped hosts before I could melt her stupid gem." Matt glared as Spyro and Cynder, and even three of the Elders (minus Zara) grinned faintly. "I can see I'm among friends. I'll get a heavy squad together."

"Zen I suggezt you bring plenty of ice-breazers," said Mole-Yair, "The Dark Master had many fiery demons with him." Matt sighed. "We got plenty of gear. Techo should have several Positron guns ready." Then Matt added, "By the way, keep an eye on Morph." "Why's that?" asked Sonya. "Cause he's gonna try to smuggle in hot dogs to roast."

--

Wilson was checking his gear for the trip up to the Bladestorm and to his shuttle. He'd been with the gang since Sy-Yong and had stuck through thick and thin. He was pretty sure that Matt was blowing things out of proportion. After, didn't he threaten to send a dispirited NegaMorph to Kyros after he was brought back to life simply because NegaMorph had no urge to fight?

Then again, Matt had been right. It was more likely that the H.Q.F would consider Avalar a lost cause and force a planet-wide evacuation. Wilson paused for a minute as he considered this. He had helped fight Tuatara, Ghoulwyrm and his forces, the Shar-Virk, and countless Imperial drones. Compared to those,, running from some creatures of darkness seemed outright cowardly. And he hated being considered a coward.

He sighed and picked up his gear before almost bumping into Draco and Contrinus. "Oh, hey guys," said Wilson sadly. Draco gave him a somewhat offended look. "So," he said in a voice that was too calm to be really calm, "You're just calling in HQF and leaving." "No, Lynch sacked me," said Wilson darkly.

Contrinus said, "Draco, of course Wilson wouldn't just run."

Draco snorted and said, "Could have fooled me." Contrinus kicked him. "Draco!" she scolded as Wilson pushed past angrily. Then Chip passed by. "What's going on here?" asked Chip. "Draco here just accused Wilson of running out," said Contrinus. "Well it's true," said Draco. Chip sighed and said, "Draco's never been really good at handling delicate conversations."

Wilson was storming off. Draco's remarks really burned him. He was not just running off. Then he noticed several crewmembers getting ready to go to the volcano. "Well, there's only way to prove them wrong," said Wilson as he slipped his helmet on.

He'd overheard the gang getting ready earlier before he'd bumped into Draco and had a good idea what was coming. Still, it would prove to Draco he was no coward. He stopped as Matt walked round the corner in human form, talking to Spyro.

"Are you certain you should have kicked Wilson out like that?" asked Spyro. "Because of him, the HQF will probably oust you guys of your homeworld," said Matt, "And speaking of which, we have a deadline to bring the Heartless to a minimal threat before they get here."

Wilson gulped and pulled his helmet's mask down over his face. Matt continued, "We have a week at max till the H.Q.F fleet get here." "And will happen if they do get here?" asked Spyro. "Hopefully, the Heartless threat would have been cropped down enough for them to do a simple sweepover," said Matt, "But if not, you guys may as well start packing."

Spyro frowned. "We can't let them..." he began. Matt said, ""Not much of a choice. The H.Q.F are a mix of Combine and N.S.C...and they are not into asking twice." "So, exactly how do we stop the Heartless?" asked Spyro. "They'll have a leader, take him out and they scatter," said Matt. "Would that be Malefor?" asked Spyro.

"Him, or any big Heartless there," said Matt. Techo ran up with an old map. "Survivors say he came knocking at the volcano, good place to start," he said. Nobody noticed Wilson "Since Heartless adapt to their surroundings, I bet we'll be facing plenty of fire Heartless," said Matt, "Which means we'll need plenty of water and ice power."

Techo nodded. "Plenty of cryo rounds for them and Sonya and you will make life easier, Spyro," he said.

"Better bring Draco along too," said Matt, "He's got ice breath and can swim in lava. And we might as well bring Morph and NegaMorph, seeing how they could turn into Slushy or something." Matt nodded. "We need a full squad, maybe two. We got enough men?" he said to Techo.

"Yes, I just haven't made enough positron cannons for everyone yet," said Techo. "No time, just grab anyone from the crew," said Matt. "Right then," said Techo. Then he turned and called to the troopers, "Ok, line up and get your positron cannon. We gotta make it to that volcano within the hour!" Wilson ran up with the rest of the troopers, snatching a positron rifle.

--

The volcano came into sight and looked suspiciously quiet, except for the apparently discarded weapons.

The ship landed on the beach and the troops got out. Draco glanced at the volcano and said, "Boy, it's big."

"...and hot," said Matt as Sonya, Cynder, Smoldron and Spyro landed around them. "Where are the sentries?" said Smoldron in a concerned voice. "They probably left with the others," said Cynder, "Which means we won't have to worry for them." "No, not enough people came to Warfang," said Wilson, getting a few looks. "Just a hunch," he said.

Matt shrugged and said, "We keep on our guard. They'll probably hurl fireballs at us when they see us. Oh, and avoid touching the lava. That stuff burns like nobody's business." Techo said sarcastically, "Oh...and I was planning a dip too." "Well, better get out the rest of the gear," said Chloe as she opened the cargo hatch. She jumped backwards as many packages of hot dogs fell out. Chloe glared and a storm of static flash-cooked the hot dogs. "MORPH!!!" she yelled before stopping. "Oopsie," she said quietly.

Suddenly, there were several flashes of darkness and what looked like little round burning coals appeared. "Those are Heartless?" said Sonya, "They don't look that scary." "Fiery Orbs, guns up!" yelled Wilson, firing at the first one. The positron rifles' effectiveness was proven as the beam sliced clean through the Heartless.

The Fiery Orb just popped out of existence. The other Heartless did not seem to take kindly to this and started shoot embers at the group. The other marines aimed and started firing. The ones with normal rifles just had to watch in horror as their rounds did nothing. Sonya sent a blast of ice into a Fiery Orb, extinguishing it instantly.

But then more Fiery Orbs appeared. "There's too many!" said Matt, "We need to get in there while we still can!" The dragons, Draco, and NegaMorph took to the skies while the troopers headed into the caves.

A blast of embers engulfed a marine that was too slow while the other Orbs started melting the rock above the cave, causing it to collapse and seal the way.

"We'll have to find another way-" Cynder started but then a dark cyclone engulfed her. "Cynder!" cried Spyro. He tried to grab her, but she was carried away. "What was that?" asked Draco. "I think I have a good guess," said NegaMorph, "and it begins with an 'M'."

--

Cynder struggled in the cyclone before being deposited in a rock island floating in the main crater. Several of the raptor heartless appeared, their left arms ending in cannons glowing with black energy. Cynder however was focused on their leader.

She was surprised to see Malefor back in his old body, along with wearing cybernetic armor. "Malefor," she growled, "Why am I not surprised you joined forces with these monsters?" "Cynder, once my most loyal general, how pleasant to see you here. Do you like my new friends?" Malefor said in an amused voice.

"Not at all," said Cynder, "These creatures will destroy this world. But of course, that's what you've always wanted, wasn't it?" "No, they'll help me rule it," said Malefor, "Your friends won't live through this day. I brought you here to give you an offer. You helped me escape Convexity. Join me again and you'll live. I can even arrange for Spyro to survive as well...with some suitable thoughts."

"By suitable thoughts, you mean none of his own," said Cynder. "Of course, but he would be devoted to you, of course, as fitting for my general," said Malefor. Cynder snarled and said, "I am not your general. I don't want to have anything to do with you." "You can't hide it. Even though I removed some of your powers, the darkness is part of you," said Malefor, coldly.

Cynder glared back at Malefor and said, "A good friend once told me I can exist outside of darkness. It does not define who I am." "That genetic freak? He is deeper in darkness then you would think. If he had arrived a month earlier, he would have happily killed you," said Malefor. "You don't know anything about NegaMorph," said Cynder.

Malefor laughed. "He was a proud general in the Empire that almost helped me take this world. Why don't you ask him IF you next see him," he said. "All you know is NegaMorph's past," said Cynder, "You know nothing about what he is now. About how he endures hardships for his friends, or how he cares for his niece, or how he wields his Lockblade to save innocent people."

The old ones all began to get agitated at the word. "Forbidden weapon..." hissed a new raptor heartless who walked out from behind Malefor. "What do you know of the blade?" "Uh, not much really," said Cynder, "And if I did, I wouldn't tell you." Malefor laughed. "Did NegaMorph ever tell you how he used Matthew's love for his sister to try and capture him?"

"But...that was the old him, he wouldn't do that now," said Cynder. "Is his past self really gone?" said Malefor, "Besides, that Lockblade isn't as great a weapon for good as you think. Did you know that he used it to banish Morph through space and time?" Cynder looked horrified at this. Malefor smiled.

"If your closest friend is capable of such things, then what of your other friends?" he said, raising a paw that had a black orb in it. "Darkness lurks in every heart," said Malefor, "Why reject your own? Embrace your darkness and you'll find true destiny."

Cynder seemed zoned out and Malefor blew the orb at her. Darkans watched as Cynder seemed to fall asleep. "You left part of her uncorrupted, explain your actions," he said.

Malefor smiled. "It pays to have a spy in the enemy camp, even better when even the spy doesn't realize," he said, before summoning another cyclone to send Cynder away. Darkans glared, "The humans must die though."

"I never said they wouldn't," said Malefor, "Everyone not native to this world shall perish." Darkans nodded. "Good...remember your place, Dragon." Malefor gave him an annoyed look and said, "I wish you wouldn't talk to me like that."

"You are dragon, one of the ones who worked with the Human to imprison us. My masters want proof of your loyalty," said Darkans. "Let me guess, the hybrid's heart on a platter?" said Malefor. "Yes...bring us his soul," said Darkans.

--

Meanwhile, the ground team was recovering from their narrow escape. "Well, it looks like we'll have to find another way out of here," said Matt, "After we deal with the Heartless." Chloe winced. "Ack...my ankle's busted," she said.

Matt helped her up as Techo helped up another merc and saw who it was. "Wilson?" he said. "Erm? Who? I'm not sure who you're-" "Your helmet's gone," said Techo flatly. "Oh, drat." Said Wilson. Matt turned angrily. "YOU! I told you to get lost," he said, heading for Wilson.

"Well, yeah, but I couldn't just leave like that," said Wilson, "I thought I should stay and help with this Heartless problem before the HQF get here." "I don't want your help," hissed Matt. "Well, you can't really send him away now," said Chloe, "Unless you can smash through that rock."

Matt glared. "Fine, we talk after this is over," he said coldly before saying, "Help Chloe." "I don't need help," said Chloe, "I can stand on my-" She winced as her leg spasmed. "This is no time for feminine pride," said Chris.

The sound of Heartless approaching could be heard from another corridor. "We gotta move...now," said Wilson. "Ok," said Morph before walking into a wall, "It's dark in here." "I know..." muttered Matt.

"Someone did remember to bring lights, right?" said Morph, "Not everyone here can see in the dark."

Matt set off a flare. This saved the group's lives as it revealed the dozen or so heartless warriors heading for them. They were mainly in form of small critters with red gowns and yellow witch's hats. Fireballs appeared above their heads before they threw them.

Another two marines were dead before they could respond and the group were forced down a side tunnel. "We need to get outside and back to the ship..." said Matt, blasting a Heartless. "Okey-dokey," said Morph before turning into Derrick and started drilling a hole into the rock wall. "Go, go, go!" yelled Matt, pushing the rest of the group through the hole before sending a blaze of plasma at the Heartless.

--

Meanwhile, Spyro and the other dragons were flying around, looking for Cynder. Draco and NegaMorph were also helping, as well keeping an eye out for aerial Heartless. Spyro was looking down when he spotted Cynder slumped on the ground with a cluster of Heartless closing in. "Cynder!" cried Spyro and started flying down towards her. The others also noticed and were right behind him.

The Heartless looked up and began casting fireballs and other fire spells at the approaching dragons, apparently not bothered when some of their number were blasted.

Draco and Sonya sent shards of ice that quickly eliminated most of them. When they eventually touched down, there were only a few Fiery Orbs left. The Fiery Orbs, dumb as they were, seemed to recognize when it was a good time to leave and melted into the shadows.

Spyro ran up to Cynder. "Cynder...can you hear me?" he said in a worried voice. Cynder groaned and opened her eyes. "What happened?" she asked. Spyro said, "You were snatched by some kind of dark cyclone. Don't you remember?" "Only that part," said Cynder, "The rest's a total blank." Spyro just nuzzled her. "I'm just happy you're ok. We got to find the others."

--

The group flew down to see the cave entrance much smaller than it was before. The troopers were desperately squeezing out the small hole. Matt, Wilson, and Chloe were the last three on the other side, shooting or throwing orbs at the advancing Heartless. "This is insane! If we try to leave, they'll swarm us!" yelled Wilson.

"One of us has to keep these guys busy." said Matt, blasting a Heartless with a plasma orb.

"You guys are more important," said Wilson, "I'll stay and fight. Besides, I need to make up to you guys somehow."

"Like hell, it's suicide. Get your arse through that hole," said Matt. Wilson paused before saying. "Ok...but what about that?" he said. Matt turned and fell down as Wilson hit him across the back of the head. "Sorry boss," he said before looking at Chloe, "Get lost, ma'am."

"Wilson, you don't stand a chance against these things by yourself," said Chloe. "Better I go than you," said Wilson, "You two are Shar-Khan, I'm just human. You're more vital than I am." "Don't give me that..." started Chloe. Wilson blew the head off a Heartless and yelled, "I have more experience! SO GET YOUR BRO THROUGH THAT HOLE, SOLDIER!"

"You don't order me around," said Chloe. "Then I have no choice," said Wilson before calling out, "NegaMorph! Get Matt and Chloe out of here! They're in serious condition."

NegaMorph appeared on autopilot and grabbed the two Lynches. Wilson turned to the advancing Heartless. "You wanna piece of me?" he yelled, firing.

"NegaMorph! Don't!" yelled Chloe, but he shadow-warped them out before she could any more out.

Wilson fired his rifle at the Heartless till the charge went down. Just then, a raptor-like Heartless appeared and tackled him. Before Wilson could put up a fight, he was down on the ground. "You will make a good warrior, Kar'Lan," snarled the Heartless, plunging its hand into Wilson's chest.

Wilson despite this smirked. "Won't be...for too long......surprise," he said, opening his hand to reveal a armed plasma grenade.

--

NegaMorph appeared and jumped aside as Chloe ran back to the hole, only to fall back as an explosion collapsed the hole. "WILSON! WILSON!" she called. Morph looked around in confusion. "I don't see a volleyball," he said.

Matt came round with a groan. "Dammit...I can't believe he hit me...when I get my hands on him..." he said before seeing the collapsed hole. "No...he didn't have too," he muttered.

--

Sometime later, they returned back at Warfang, in a sorrier state than before. The Elders were there to greet them. "Did you evict those...Heartless from the moles home?" said Cyril. Matt shook his head gloomily.

Zara growled and said, "I knew we should have sent more dragons. We send a small group of humans and they just come back in fewer numbers."

Matt turned dragon and flew towards his quarters while Chloe turned angrily. Chloe was about to speak her mind but Cynder beat her to it. "We lost more than you thought back there," said Cynder, "A friend of theirs sacrificed himself so that we could escape. They were just fortunate enough they haven't lost more than they've already had."

Zara took a step back in shock as Cynder continued. "Ever since you joined the Guardians you've had it in for Matthew and his friends. Have you ever thought about them, about anyone else?" she continued.

Zara was actually silenced by this. "Well, we'll need to prepare ourselves so that next time, we won't have to retreat," said Chloe.

A trooper ran up. "Ma'am, NSC want to confirm Wilson's request with the captain," he said, giving her a datapad. Chloe looked at it before sighing and pressing 'confirm'.

--

Meanwhile, Matt had settled down to more moping. "Stupid universe, first Kala now an entire planet. Way to go, Matt," he muttered to himself.

Morph was wandering by when he spotted Matt. "Aw, what's with the long face?" said Morph. "Have you been paying attention to the last few days? No, of course you haven't," said Matt. "Oh, I know how to make you smile," said Morph. He put his hands inside the sides of his head and pulled hard. His feet got sucked up his body and shortly afterwards was pulled out of his head. "Gotta keep your ears to the ground," said Morph.

Matt's expression confirmed that it was not helping. "Not in the mood, Morph. Go annoy Xephros," he said.

Morph put his feet back where they belong and said, "I tried, but he blew me off, literally." Matt glared angrily. "Go away before I turn dragon and blast you into orbit," he said. Morph thought for a second and said, "Ok Matt, I've got a secret to tell you. But it's really, really, really secret. Nobody else can be told of it. NOBODY! Not even that fancy doorknocker."

"Like it would be..." said Matt before glancing at the doorknocker, which was shaped like a dragon's head. It was looking down at them before it reassumed its proper position. "...Interested?" Matt began to say, "Did that doorknocker just move?" The doorknocker said, "No...it's, erm...your imagination."

Matt twitched. He said, "Well...you should know," before turning to Morph with one of his 'half a second from insanity' grins. "Well?" "Well, you remember when NegaMorph through me into that wormhole and I was sent tumbling through space and time?" asked Morph. Matt nodded. "Yes..." he said.

"Well, I occasionally fell out and ended up in different worlds. But then a malfunctioning portal or something would always throw me back in," said Morph. He paused and said, "Come to think of it, I think I saw a lot of alternative yous."

Matt glared and turned dragon, picking Morph up. "Get to the point," he hissed. "Well, at one point, I ended up in future Nullspace. I really can't tell you much about it. But I saw you and Kala, and I think I saw wedding rings on your fingers," said Morph. Matt seemed to perk up before squeezing, making Morph sound like a squeaky toy. "Talk," he said.

"Well, I only thought they were wedding rings," said Morph, "They had better have been because Kala's really let herself go, or you two were expecting the stork." "Talk or be..." began Matt before a large book materialized over his head and landed...all 2000 pages of it.

"Hey, it's the 'History and Why You Shouldn't Mess It Up' book," said Morph, "I wondered where it went. Oh look, here's a note on it: 'Spill any more and the next copy lands on you, Mr. B'." A 'PS' was included from someone called 'C' and said 'and it won't be the abridged version this time'.

Matt was gently gibbering. "But I don't owe any library books, mummy," he gibbered. "See Matt?" said Morph, "The future's not so bleak. Just keep your chin up and you'll win. Remember, you've got a wife and son waiting for you, unless it was actually a girl. I wasn't there for the ultrascan." A second later, a much larger book landed on Morph hard enough to go an inch into the ground. A post-it note said 'We warned you'.

Matt got up shakily. "Did someone get the license plate on that bookmobile?" he asked in a dazed voice. Morph's hand poked out from under the other book and gave a thumb's up. Matt sighed. "Ah well...least it's some hope," he said.

Then Matt flew off, noticeably with more spirit than before. With a great heave, Morph flipped the book off of him. "Ow," he said, "That almost busted my spine. Oh wait, I don't have a spine." Mr. Black appeared behind him. "Well, next time, take our warnings serious," said Mr. Black as Cydra appeared. "You shouldn't have told him about that," said Cydra.

"What? I was right?" said Morph. "It might not be now that- Wait, you didn't know?" said Mr. Black.

"Uh, I haven't actually been to future Nullspace," confessed Morph. "So, you're saying what you told Matt was a lie?" said Cydra. "More like a guess," said Morph, "How close was I?"

"Well...wait, we're not telling you," said Cydra before making 4 more books fall on Morph one after the other. "I...already...have...both...editions..." said Morph's muffled voice. Mr. Black said, "Was that necessary?" Cydra shrugged. "I wanted to see why Matt enjoys doing stuff like that, surprisingly good for stress."

--

Later that night, everyone was asleep, including Cynder. However, her dreams were very uneasy. It was an old nightmare...of her corruption, except this time the apes were replaced with Heartless. Anyone watching would have seen her open her eyes, the pupils practically invisible before opening a shadow portal. Malefor's face appeared, "I see...report, my general..."

**Uh oh…looks like Malefors managed to get a mole into the good guys camp…and one of the gangs gone…tune in next time and please leave a review.**


	4. Warming Memories

**Spyro, Cynder, and all other Spyro related characters are property of Sierra studios. **

**Draco, Contrinus, Chip and Cydra are property of my co-author, Cydra. **

**Matt, his merc team, the NSC and related tech, the ancients/atlanteans and malefors dragon generals are mine.**

**Summary: Its been a week since the events of Forgotten blood and the crew have returned to pick Matt up, only to find that 8 months have passed for him. It seems like Avalar is at peace till the actions of an old enemy result in the release of the very race that brought the ancients to their knees…**

**CPS Chronicles**

**Soulless Abyss**

**Chapter 4: Warming Memories**

**Dante's Freezer**

Dante's Freezer was not at the top of any Avalarians list of places to visit. Usually it was quiet except for the undead creatures that called the old fortresses home. It wasn't like that today. Marines from the Bladestorm were stuck in a desperate battle with ice Heartless that were swarming the ruins. "How'd they know we were coming?" said Techo. "Does it matter at this exact moment?" yelled Matt before he blasted a Blue Rhapsody.

A scream got his attention. A Heartless like the ones that had led the catacomb ambush had shot a ball of black energy onto a marine and it was apparently swallowing him. The marine disappeared into the darkness. A few seconds later, the darkness cleared, revealing a Heartless which resembled a blue cannon. The Ice Cannon then started firing on its former teammates with freezing blasts. That stopped when Matt hit it with a fiery plasma blast.

"Techo...is that bomb ready?" said Matt. The gang had come to Dante's Freezer when they had realized that the undead would make a great source of troop power. The plan had been to collapse the fortress where Avarona's gem had been originally imprisoned...till the Heartless had ambushed the teams in the entrance hall.

"It's kinda hard to work and fight at the same time!" yelled Techo before blasting some Icy Cubes.

"Oh, stop complaining!" yelled Matt back, turning his hand to his draconic one to slash a lunging Heartless. He jumped back as a stream of various elements hit a group of approaching Heartless. Matt looked up to see Smoldron, Sonya, Cynder and Spyro fly overhead.

"It's a good thing you got here," said Matt, "We nearly got iced."

The four dragons landed, causing the Heartless to scatter in panic. The Raptor Heartless that had shot the marine could be seen yelling in a language of snarls, obviously trying to get some form of order back. "We're almost done here," said Chloe.

Sonya glanced down at the bomb Techo was working on. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" she asked.

"Zara told us to stop this place from being a recruitment camp for the Heartless. She never stated how," said Techo, evilly.

"I don't think the undead here would appreciate that," said Sonya. Matt could be heard yelling, "THE UNDEAD CAN KISS MY ASS!" Techo said, "Matt has a kinda...grudge against undead in general." "Sure glad I'm fully alive," said Spyro to Cynder, "Hate for him to be after me."

"I don't mind some undead, but undead that try to kill me can expect nastiness," said Matt, shooting a Heartless peeking in before walking over to the bomb where Smoldron was also looking now. "Look...you've crossed the wires...just...oops," he said as the bomb started beeping.

Techo glared, "That's why I DO the technical stuff," as a countdown appeared, starting from 1 minute.

Just then, the Raptor Heartless started to charge the group, a ball of darkness forming in its mouth. It was followed by about 2 dozen regular heartless, all shooting. The group ran for the other exit, shooting as they went.

Matt had also made it when he heard a cry and turned to see Smoldron had been hit in the wing by one of the darkness balls. He and Sonya ran back inside. Matt blasted several Heartless while Sonya ran over to Smoldron. "Oh no, get up, we've got to go," she whimpered. Smoldron winced as wisps of darkness started floating around him. "No, I'm not losing you like that," said Sonya, "You have to fight it." "Erm...bomb?" said Matt.

--

Chloe and the others came to a halt and tried to rest. "They're not following. Where's the captain?" said Techo. A second later, a fireball blew out the door as well as smashing the ice covering the dozens of windows linking to the room where the bomb had been before the doorway collapsed in a pile of rubble.

Chloe looked panicked before Techo said, "I don't think they were close enough to the bomb to be hurt. But their only way out's been closed."

The remaining Heartless came into view, looking at the rubble before glaring at them. "GET THOSE LITTLE CREEPS!" yelled Chloe.

--

Meanwhile, Matt and Sonya were tending to Smoldron. "We better keep him warm," said Matt, as he lit a warm orb of plasma in his hand and held it close to Smoldron. "Too bad we don't have anything to burn," said Sonya.

Matt sighed before taking off his coat and shifting to dragon form. "Then again..." he said and breathed a stream of plasma flame onto it. In the light of the new fire, Matt and Sonya could see the darkness balls energy had covered Smoldron's entire wing and was creeping down his left front leg.

"Oh, that is not good," said Matt, "We need to bring him out of that coma he's in or he's gonna lose his heart."

Smoldron opened his eyes. The gaze was straight ahead, almost zombified. "Sonya, we gotta do something. That stuff's eating his memories. We got to keep him awake and aware. You've known him longer," he said. There were footsteps from a corridor and Matt turned to see several of the undead, one a bit singed...and all angry. They were just waiting. "What should I do?" asked Sonya.

"Um, try to remind of good things like, I don't know, how you two first met," said Matt. He paused and said, "Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever heard that story." Two of the undead however seemed to have decided the trio were too lively and were walking forward, blades ready. "You talk, I'll keep gate crashers away," he said. Sonya nodded, "Smoldron...Smoldron? Do you remember when we first met?"

--

_Two Avalarian weeks after the events of Soul Gem 1..._

_Sonya flew behind the three Elders. It had been a fortnight since Matt had left in the Maelstrom Star and the Elders and Sonya had been clearing out the last of Malefor's grublin minions. Despite their master's demise, several had remained and the fortnight had been spent getting rid of them._

_They had recently heard of a nest of grublins hiding in some caverns near the land that Malefor used as his main base. They were flying over there to deal with them.__The small group landed in front of the caverns just as the grublins charged out, weapons at the ready. However, several charged back into the caverns instead._

_"They're guarding something here," said Terrador, "That's why they haven't left. We shall deal with these and then proceed to whoever or whatever's in there."_

_Sonya said, "They might have destroyed whatever they're guarding by them. I'll go deal with them," and ran into the cavern after the grublins before the Elders could react._

_The grublins Sonya was chasing came to a stop in a room decorated with several dozen dark crystals like the ones used to corrupt Cynder. Two more grublins came in, dragging a young dragon between them. "The master's enemies are close. We must do the ritual now," hissed the apparent leader._

_Sonya wasn't sure what ritual they were talking about. But since it involved an unwilling dragon being involved, it couldn't be anything good. Then again, having grublins doing anything couldn't be good either._

_The young dragon was pushed in between the gems and cowered in place, as far from the grublins as he could. _

_The lead grublin was about to start when Sonya leapt out and sent a scream of ice into it, flash-freezing the luckless minion.__The grublins immediately went on the offensive. They started throwing spears and poisonous needles at Sonya, but her icy breath froze them all in midair before crystallizing the grublins themselves._

_She walked past them smugly. "NSC training has alot going for it," she said to herself smugly, smashing a grublin with her tail as she passed it on the way to the new dragon. "Hey there," she said cheerfully._

_The dragon flinched away from her. When she got a good look at him, she saw that he was a fire dragon about her age. He also had a close resemblance to Matt, only his captivity's made him rather thin._

_"Don't worry, I'm not with those icicles. I'm here to help," she said.__The dragon didn't flinch, but he still looked scared. Sonya noticed his malnourished appearance and asked, "How long have they kept you here?"__The dragon shrugged. Sonya stopped as realization dawned. This dragon must have been hatched here...like Cynder had been. "Poor guy, don't worry. These guys are toast," she said._

_The doors flew open and a grublin flew across the room to smash into gems on the opposite wall. Terrador came in behind it, his paws still glowing from the earth shot he'd used. "Sonya? We found dragon eggs..."__He looked at the fire dragon who had been chained down to the ritual platform. "Poor thing," said Terrador, his voice thick with sympathy, "As if the destruction those grublins cause isn't bad enough, but enslaving hatchlings?"_

_"Not just enslaving them," said Sonya, "Rearing them to be slaves."_

_Terrador looked up to see the dark gems lining the wall. "Cynder's replacement...even from the grave he treats hatchlings like tools," he muttered, before using earth power to break the chains. The hatchling immediately fled behind a pillar._

_Just then, Volteer came in. "Terrador, wonderful news! The unborn hatchlings that those rapscallion simians have absconded have been repossessed!"_

_Terrador and Sonya looked confused, as was the usual reaction to Volteer's warp speed speech. "Erm...I think he found some dragon eggs," tried Sonya._

_"But I thought the apes smashed them years ago," said Terrador._

_"Clearly, they were stockpiling them to use for a future army," said Cyril as he stepped in._

_Sonya said, "We found the first future recruit. He's got PPST," before walking slowly towards the hiding dragon._

_"Er, what's that?" asked Terrador._

_"Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome," said Sonya, "His captivity made him a nervous wreck. It'll take some time for him to recover, if ever."__The dragon hatchling had obviously got some courage as he spat a half-hearted fireball at Sonya. "Wow...guess he's not totally catatonic," she said, dodging it._

_"Yes, but he'll need time to heal," said Cyril, "His scars would run very deep. It would be best for him if he left this cave."_

_The young dragon seemed to slip into a trance. "Can't leave...master'll get angry...punish me again," he said in a terrified voice, backing up even further._

_Volteer looked sympathetically at him. "His trauma is indeed very grave. The boy will require much social time with a healthy peer."_

_Sonya said, "You've got lots to do. I could look after him."_

_"Sonya, this is not a task to take lightly," said Terrador, "A dragon in his condition could be a danger to himself and others. Also, you do not have as much experience with dragonkind."_

_"Someone has to look after him, plus he's quite literally the only one my age," she said.__"Just be careful with him," said Cyril, "He's only known these dark caves. There's no telling how he'd react to anything foreign."__"We'll be fine," she said, smiling at the hatchling._

--

Just then, Matt finished fighting off the last of the undead soldiers. "You know...next time I go shopping...I'm getting some undead fighting weapon...like an enchanted sword or something," panted Matt. A third zombie clocked him over the head with a warhammer. "Or a thicker helmet," gibbered Matt.

Sonya turned and shot an icicle through the ribcage of the zombie. It didn't kill it, but it pinned it to the wall.

"Nooooobody knows...the headaches I've had…" gibbered Matt, his eyes spinning.

Smoldron's condition still wasn't good. Darkness still swirled around him, but it didn't seem to progress. His eyes didn't look as glazed, but there wasn't any emotions behind them. "Urgh...I remember...I was so frightened…" he muttered, his eyes flickering.

"Well, that didn't last so long," said Sonya, "Remember when I was showing around Warfang for the first time?" Smoldron nodded weakly.

--

_Sonya had finally gotten the young dragon to talk. The grublins had named him Smoldron. She was showing him around the city. "I know it a bit run down. We had a problem with a small army," she said._

_Smoldron was amazed. He had never seen any sort of building before. Now he was surrounded by large buildings on all sides. "Do all dragons live in cities?" he asked.__"I don't know. I haven't been one for very long," she said absently.__Smoldron looked confused but then spotted a group of moles working on a wall. "What are those things?" he asked._

_"Oh, those are the moles. They live here too," said Sonya, silently sighing with relief that Smoldron hadn't fled screaming at her slip up._

_"Really? Do they rule over us?" asked Smoldron, who was having trouble grasping that dragons weren't a second-class species._

_"No. Course not. They built this city for us...I think. I always sucked at history," said Sonya.__Smoldron looked at Sonya and asked, "So, how long have you lived here?"__"A few months," said Sonya, "It's a nice place...or it will be once we've fixed the place up."__"I hope the people here are as nice as you," said Smoldron.__"Don't worry, they are," said Sonya, smiling again._

_A little while later, the three Guardians came to see how Smoldron was progressing.__Sonya said, "He's a little timid. He's convinced we're slaves. Just managed to get him off that track of mind," before noticing a fire dragoness. "Who's that?" she asked_

_"Since we've lost Ignitus, we need a new Fire Elder," said Cyril, "This is his replacement, Zara."__Sonya looked at Zara. "Nice to meet you," she said._

_Zara snorted and said, "There's something wrong with this dragon. Is she the foreigner you told me about?"_

_Sonya glared and said in an icy tone (and this was something she was getting good at), "This foreigner can talk for herself."_

_Zara ignored her and looked at Smoldron. "Well, at least we have some fire dragons here. But where has he been? He looks like he's been trapped in a cave all his life."_

_Sonya glared. "That's because he has, sister," she said, her tone now practically an ice age all by itself._

_Zara glanced at Terrador who explained, "We found him and several dragon eggs in the clutches of the grublins. Apparently, they've been preparing to use them as an army."_

_"The boy will require much time to recuperate from his traumatic ordeal," said Volteer, "We hypothesized that extended experience with a peer of average health should increase his rate of recovery dramatically."_

_Zara said, "But she's not even as proper dragon. We all remember the trouble humans caused. I hear it was a human who let the generals loose."_

_Sonya growled and the air temperature dropped rapidly. "Well, I'm not human anymore and I can never be again. But even if I were, I'd still be a better influence on him than you," snarled Sonya, wisps of icy mist escaping from her mouth._

_Cyril said, "Sonya, you're still not used to your abilities." Sonya glared but the ice mist stopped emerging. Smoldron however was staring in terror._

_Sonya looked at Smoldron and noticed his scared expression. "Sorry," she said, "I just got a little angry."_

_Smoldron however backed up, frightened into silence. Zara said ,"Hmm...I can see what a good job you're doing."_

_Sonya glared back at Zara and said, "I was doing fine until you shoved your big snout in it."__Cyril, with great sense of mind, said, "Why don't I show you the temple, Zara?" __"I would glad to see it," said Zara as the Elders walked away.__Sonya sighed before turning to Smoldron. "Sorry about that...Smoldron?" she said_

_Smoldron was shaking. "You looked so...scary," he said._

_"I know, I'm really sorry about that. I shouldn't have gotten angry," said Sonya.__Smoldron calmed down a bit. "You really had it hard," said Sonya sadly._

_"When someone gets angry, it means pain," said Smoldron, "That's what happened with my masters."_

_"Your masters can't bother you ever again," said Sonya, thinking angrily of her time trapped as a voice in Avarona's head.__"Are you sure?" asked Smoldron.__"I was there when Malefor was got rid of," said Sonya__Smoldron's eyes widened. "The Dark Master is gone?" he asked._

_Sonya nodded and said, "Yes, I helped get rid of him along with Spyro, Cynder, and Matt. Would you like me to tell you about them?"_

_Smoldron nodded. He'd heard some of the grublins speak of Spyro and Cynder when he had been in prison. he presumed Matt had been the 'annoying psycho' mentioned. "Ok," said Sonya, "Let me take you back when me and Matt first came to this world..."_

--

Matt said, "So...what did you say about me?" he said in an accusing voice. "Well, I described most of your notable qualities, in a positive light," said Sonya. "And the rest?" said Matt. Sonya winced and said, "I was honest." Matt sighed, "That's not good."

"Well, what would you want me to say? That you were some space-faring paladin here to fight for justice and vanquish evil?" asked Sonya. Matt said simply, "Yes...you coulda left out the fact that I'm a little...nuts. It looks bad on a resume."

"Well, you should be happy to know that Smoldron took you up as his role model," said Sonya, "He wanted to be as strong physically and mentally as you. And he definitely made rapid progress with that, didn't you Smoldron?" Smoldron nodded weakly. "Yeah," he said, cracking a grin.

Matt sighed. "Oh boy...so what happened and how much property damage occurred?"

--

_Part of Smoldron's recovery was to get him back into physical shape. Fortunately, there was a training area just suited for that. However, Sonya was a bit worried that Smoldron might have been too influenced by her stories about Matt._

_The main clue to this was the new 'windows' that a few over-enthusiastic fireballs had caused, one of which had nearly hit her...hence why she was almost frozen in shock. "Ok...you've got the hang of fireballs...now we work on the aim," she said weakly._

_"I don't think I've heard of that word," said Smoldron, "What does it mean?"_

_"Neither had Matt," muttered Sonya.__To Smoldron, she said, "Ok, now instead of just flinging fireballs at random, try to hit the target with them."_

_The ape dolls for the first time in history had actually been hiding up to this point: a first and proof that dummies they may be, idiots they were not._

_"But how can I hit them when they're moving?" asked Smoldron. "Just run after them," said Sonya._

_The dummies tried to flee when Smoldron started chasing after them with a laugh that made Sonya's mind turn to thoughts of Matt.__Now that she really thought about it, Smoldron resembled Matt in several ways. The bigger differences was that he was larger, more in control of himself, had somewhat more dignity, and he looked really cute._

_Smoldron appeared to be doing ok, until a dummy landed a retaliatory strike and he cringed back.__"It's ok," called Sonya, "No pain, no gain."__"As if there was any gain to be perceived," said a voice. Sonya turned to see Zara walking in.__"Oh, what do you want, creep?" said Sonya._

_"To take over Smoldron's training," said Zara, "An ice dragon cannot train a fire dragon as well as another fire dragon."__"I know more about combat then you do," said Sonya, smugly.__Zara looked at Sonya like she said an amusing joke. "Can you back that up?" she said._

_"6 years in Executive Genetics' private security, 4 years in Black 13 PMC, 2 in the NSC military rapid response force, and a year as pilot of the Maelstrom Star," said Sonya, even more smugly__"I see, but how much of that is applicable to a dragon?" said Zara._

_"I helped Spyro beat Malefor," Sonya said, dropping what she thought was a conversation stopper.__"Hmm, well, your fighting ability is impressive," admitted Zara, "But how good are your teaching skills?"__"I'm a professional," said Sonya, just as a piece fell down from one of the holes behind her._

_"A professional at what?" said Zara, "Collateral damage?"__"Nope, I'm a mercenary," she said before looking behind her, "Though I admit the similarities are there."__"I still think Smoldron should train with me," said Zara, "You're an ice dragon. Ice is the opposite of fire. How could you possibly train him if you use completely different elements?"_

_"You should have seen the interesting tricks me and Matt pulled by combining fire and ice," said Sonya, glaring. Zara raised an eyebrow. "And what would that be?" she asked. "A whirlwind once, a lightning storm was another one too," said Sonya, tactfully leaving out that the storm had taken to zapping Matt more often than villains._

_"Hmm, could give a demonstration of this combination?" asked Zara in a tone which clearly meant she didn't believe a word of it. "No, Matt's currently several thousand lightyears and several dimensions away...and he didn't leave a contact number," said Sonya before looking at Smoldron._

_"Well, there's another fire dragon. I think he'd be able to work just as well. Unless this technique doesn't actually exist," said Zara. Sonya wandered over to Smoldron and whispered in his ear.__Smoldron gulped and said, "You sure about this?" "Trust me," said Sonya._

_Sonya aimed a stream of ice into the middle of the room while Smoldron did the same with a stream of fire. Slowly the two breaths circled each other, making a corkscrew of clouds form above it.__Zara looked on with surprise. "Huh, I thought you were bluffing for a minute," she said._

_Sonya looked smug and put a wing round Smoldron, who was also looking smug. "See? It's a whirlwind...oh..." she said, before realizing what she'd just said.__The small tornado grew in size and power. _

_Very soon, the practice dummies were flying through the air.__Sonya wore the same stubborn look that Matt would have had in her place. "It's meant to do that," she said.__"Well, I think-" Zara didn't get to tell what she thought because one of the flying dummies slammed into her head. She was knocked onto the ground, totally out cold._

_The tornado luckily vanished. "Hey, Smoldron...did I show you the sheep pens? No? LET'S GO!" said Sonya, all but dragging the bemused Smoldron out the door._

--

Matt was laughing pretty hard. "Oh man, I wish I could have been there to see that," he said.

Sonya sighed. "Well, it wasn't so much fun when Zara caught up with us."

--

_Sonya and Smoldron were sitting in front of the Elders, Zara wearing a bandage and still a bit concussed, wearing a look that said her brain was a little behind on current events._

_"You shouldn't have unleashed that attack in such small quarters," said Volteer, "The lack of space could have created a much more violent meteorlogic upheaval."_

_"Still, some good came from it. Zara's not insulting me anymore," muttered Sonya. Zara looked around. "Did someone say mah name?" she said in a slurred voice._

_Smoldron said, "We're sorry, don't punish us. Sonya only wanted to prove that she wasn't lying."_

_"It was an accident," said Cyril, "and the damage wasn't that severe. Besides, I was started to get a little tired of Zara myself."_

_Zara appeared to snap out of it at this. "They nearly killed me," she snarled. Sonya just made a face at her._

_"You brought it largely upon yourself," said Terrador, "You should have known how dangerous creating a storm indoors could have been."_

_"I didn't tell them to do it. Smoldron needs a proper training," said Zara._

_"I've yet to see an incompetence of Sonya's regarding Smoldron's training," said Cyril, "The more advanced and exclusive techniques can be taught by you, but I think Sonya is more than competent enough to handle Smoldron's basic training."_

_Sonya stuck her tongue out at Zara. "See? The ex-human's competent."_

--

Just then, Matt extinguished the plasma fire on what remained of his coat. When Sonya looked at him questionably, Matt explained, "We're starting to run low on air in here. If we kept that on, we'll run out too soon."

Smoldron nodded. "Yeah..." he said weakly. The darkness had engulfed his front arm and the wing behind it but appeared to have stopped.

"So, it sounds like it was all gravy for you guys," said Matt, sitting back down with them.

"Not really," said Sonya, "Smoldron may have been able to get stronger in body and mind, but his standing in the community wasn't very good."

--

_It had been a month since Smoldron had been found and more dragons had emerged from hiding, some bringing families with them. She was walking to the temple to carry on Smoldron's training when she heard some laughter...and not the kind sort. "What the smeg?" she muttered, heading for the sound._

_She headed around a corner and spotted a group of younger dragons forming a circle around Smoldron.__"HEY! WHAT THE FUCK'S THE BIG IDEA!?!" she yelled, running over.__The other dragons didn't even turn to look at her. "Hey! Don't just ignore me! That's my friend over there!" snapped Sonya._

_"What? You're with the grublin worm?" said a burly-looking earth dragon.__Sonya snarled and said, "What did you call him?"__"He was raised by those grublins," said the earth dragon, "We gotta teach the traitor a lesson."__"He is no traitor," growled Sonya, "He didn't have any choice in the matter."__"Yeah, they all say that," said an unknown type of brown dragon next to the earth one._

_Sonya snarled and said, "You lot have no business here. Leave at once."__"Or what? You'll make us?" said the earth dragon.__"You think I can't?" snapped Sonya.__"Hah. Get lost ice princess," said the earth dragon and turned back only for a blast of ice to hit him in the back, freezing him solid._

_Sonya had an aura of chilled air surrounding her. "Anyone else want to try me?" she shouted. The others looked at each other before charging her. Sonya tail whipped the first one and clawed his leg as he passed before blasting the ground in front of a second. The last one left was the brown dragon who sent a ball of green goo at her that melted the rock behind her. _

_As the dragon prepared to spit out another glob, but Sonya was faster and she sent a steam of ice that froze the poison just as it was appearing in the dragon's mouth. The dragon made a choking noise and coughed up the frozen poison glob in time to be clocked across the head by Sonya. The others were just getting up, trying to thaw their leader. "Go away," hissed Sonya, baring her fangs._

_The dragons didn't need to be told twice and they ran off, carrying the frozen dragon with them._

_Sonya made a final hiss at them before turning to see Smoldron was gone._

_--_

_Smoldron had ran off as soon as the other dragons were focused on Sonya. His eyes burned with unshed tears as the humiliation of their taunts hurt him deeply. He ran out of the city and far into the countryside. Plus he'd been terrified when he'd seen the way that Sonya had fought._

_He kept running until he came to the edge of the landmass that Warfang was on. Without a second thought, he jumped off and started flying over the gaps between the floating landmasses._

_He just wanted to get as far away as possible. He could hear someone behind him calling his name.__That only spurred him to fly even faster. He didn't care where he'll end up, as long as it's not where there's any more fighting._

_He finally came to a stop in a barren land, a large volcano on the horizon. "Least nobody can find me here," he said before hearing someone land behind him.__Smoldron flinched away until he heard Sonya's voice say, "Relax, it's me."_

_This didn't calm him down, her fighting technique still fresh in his memory. "Leave me alone!" he said, running for it.__"Smoldron, wait!" called Sonya as she ran after him._

_She ran after him and ran into him on the edge of a cliff. "Now you've stopped maybe we can...oh boy," she said. The valley surrounding the volcano was a hive of activity. Sonya had never seen one in person, but she knew a construction bot jamming support girders into the bedrock when she saw one. The two dragons ducked instinctively as a dropship roared overhead to land in the middle of the construction site._

_"What are those things?" whispered Smoldron._

_"Not from here," said Sonya, "They're construction bots." When Smoldron looked blank, Sonya said, "They're...builders made out of metal. And it looks like they're building something."_

_Her eyes went wider when she spotted… '"Battle droids? They're illegal," she said angrily, spotting a dozen of the skeleton-like robots march off the dropship, followed by a human in an air mask. "Is this bad?" asked Smoldron. "If they're doing what I think they're doing, it's very bad," said Sonya, "We have to go tell the Elders about this."_

_There was a series of clicks behind them and an Irish-accented voice said, "I don't think so kiddies. Let's all go meet the doctor." The two dragons turned to see a dozen troopers in combat armor and holding heavy leaser rifles. Sonya growled and was about to freeze them before the same person said, "I wouldn't do that, unless you want to try breathing through new holes in your neck."_

_Smoldron whimpered and tried to get behind Sonya who said, "I dunno who you are but we're not going anywhere with a bunch of marauders."_

_The leader laughed and said, "Who said we were marauders?" and fired._

_--_

_When Sonya woke up, but she and Smoldron were inside a metallic room. Chains were connected to collars on their necks and kept them tethered to the wall. Smoldron was also awake, but not as panicked as Sonya would have expected._

_Sonya looked around. "Smoldron...are you ok?" she said, pulling on her collar. Smoldron shrugged and said calmly, "I'm chained to a wall in a room I've never seen before. I'm fine." Sonya said, "Dammit...guess Matt didn't manage to convince the Council with his story. Hope they weren't too harsh on him."_

_A voice echoed from a loudspeaker, "Oh, I'm not with the N.S.C, Lieutenant Adams." Sonya looked up towards the loudspeaker. "How do you know who I am?" she asked. "Your implant, all NSC forces have them, in the spinal column. I was curious as to how the NSC found us so quick...and why they sent someone who apparently died 3 years ago. But that's not for me to ask," said the voice_

_"Oh, then who wants to know?" demanded Sonya.__"My name is Dr. Gregory Johnson, head of the Empire's Bio-research division. You are Lieutenant Sonya Adams, lost when the Maelstrom star strayed into a Z class dimension within the Dragon Eye Nebula. You've definitely adapted to this world," said Dr. Johnson._

_"Gee, what gave that away? My loss of hair and thumbs? My sprouting wings and a tail?" asked Sonya sarcastically._

_"That and the fact that you've gone so native, you've even selected a mate from the local populace," said Johnson._

_Sonya and Smoldron both went wide eyed and started making coughing noises. "I'm his teacher," she said, glaring as Smoldron started laughing his head off._

_Also adding to her annoyance, Johnson was joining in the laughing. "Oh my, what would your mother think?" said Johnson mockingly.__"Laugh it up. I'm getting out of..." she said running head down at the door and was electrocuted by a charge in the door. "Ow..." he mumbled._

_"You didn't think we came unprepared for you flying lizards, did you? You won't be able to break out of that room," said Johnson._

_Johnson added darkly. "Well...not till we know how to put you in your place..."__"I think you'll find that we dragons don't submit that easily," said Sonya.__"Like I said, you've gone native," said Johnson, amusement evident in his voice._

_Sonya growled and said, "When I get out of here, I'm giving you the worst case of frostbite you'll ever have."_

_"That's the problem. Part of my job is bio-weapons...and I will need a few...test subjects. Guess who's it," said Dr. Johnson._

_Sonya looked shocked before saying, "You can't do that. There's a law against testing on sentient species."_

_"Dragons aren't on that list," said Johnson, "They're just mythological creatures. And I highly doubt anyone would believe you used to be human."_

_"You...what kind of monster employs you?" said Sonya, words failing her from anger. Johnson said, "The Emperor pays good...even if he is a bit short." Sonya looked blank at this and said, "I don't know who this emperor is, but you're no good if you're working for someone like that."_

_"You'll find out. Sleep well, my little test subjects," said Johnson, signing off with a nasty laugh.__Sonya growled and tried to twist her head around so she could bite at her chains. "No way I'm going to be anyone's lab rat," she said._

_An hour later and the door opened and two scientists in HAZMAT suits with four of the battle droids came in. One of the scientists had a vial marked 'E.X.P'. "Now...we don't think this'll hurt," said one of the scientists, grabbing Sonya._

_"Get your hands off me," snarled Sonya before trying to bite them. One of the droids extended an arm and zapped her with a taser-like device. Sonya shrieked as the electricity arced over her body._

_Smoldron watched in horror. Sonya had been his friend since rescuing him and now these people were hurting her for no reason. "Leave her alone!" he yelled. "Don't get your tail in a twist, we'll be getting you next," said one of the scientists._

_Smoldron snarled angrily as something inside him bubbled to the surface. His eyes blazed white and he spat four arrow-shaped fireballs through the battle droids.__The droids exploded with a loud bang. That distracted the scientists long enough for Sonya to freeze them in custom-made ice overcoats._

_Smoldron was still snarling when he turned to look at Sonya, his eyes still glowing before the glow faded. "Sonya...are you ok?" he said, sending a burst of fire into the chain._

_The fire quickly melted the chain away. "I'll be fine as soon as the moles can take off this collar," said Sonya.__She sent a stream of ice into the chain, making the iron brittle enough for Smoldron to smash it. "Let's get out of here," she said, hopping smugly over the glaring frozen scientist._

_"But how do we get out through that door?" asked Smoldron, looking towards the heavy metal door._

_Sonya glared at the door and sent an ice fury into...and through the door. "I am not in a GOOD MOOD!" she roared.__"Clearly," said Smoldron, visibly shaken._

_The two dragons walked into the corridor just as a siren began ringing. "Code red. Test subjects loose in sector 3. Security to move in and pacify," said an automated announcement.__"We have to move now," said Sonya, "They're not gonna let us by so easily."_

_On cue, two troopers ran round the corner. "Open fire!" yelled the leader and fired a hail of laser blasts.__Sonya and Smoldron responded by shooting balls of ice and fire respectively.__The troopers ran back into cover as the blasts bounced around them._

_"Now's our chance, let's make a break for it," said Sonya.__The group ran through the corridors, their small size allowing them to literally sometimes trip up the pursuit._

_Eventually, they made it to the main gate. However, it was bolted shut and looked to thick to use a fury attack on. "How are we going to get out now?" asked Smoldron._

_There was a rattling noise coming from the corridor they'd used. "Smoldron, use your breath on the door, heat it up," said Sonya. "But it won't melt," said Smoldron._

_"I know, but trust me on this," said Sonya.__Two metallic balls rolled into view. "Faster please," said Sonya as the 'balls' unfolded into tri-legged droids.__Smoldron spouted a powerful flamethrower at the door. Like he said, it didn't melt, but it change from grey to red, then orange.__The two new droids began firing at the group. "Smoldron, roast faster!" yelled Sonya, making a wall of ice between the two and the droids.__The ice was thick, but the droids were steadily chipping through it with their machine guns._

_When the door became bright orange, Smoldron stopped and gasped for breath. "I...don't think...I can get...any hotter," he panted._

_"It's ok, my turn," said Sonya, sending a stream of ice mist into the door. The violent temperature change caused the doors to literally explode apart. "There...physics 1-0-1," she said smugly before a laser bolt just missed her._

_"Let's get out of here!" called Smoldron as he spread his wings. The two of them flew out into the open air._

_--_

_Dr Johnson looked out a window as the two dragons fled. "General Silvia's gonna be pissed," he muttered. "Send a communication, ask for instructions and send the security footage."_

_--_

_Sonya and Smoldron flew away from the base as fast as their wings could take them. They were going so hard, they nearly couldn't stop in time to avoid running into Cyril and Zara. Zara looked angry. "Where have you two been? You've been gone for two days." "It's been that long?" said Sonya with surprise, "I guess they've kept us unconscious longer than we thought." "Who kept you unconscious?" demanded Cyril._

_A droid fighter flew overhead, firing a stream of alsers as it went by. "Those guys did." said Smoldron as several dozen battle droids and troopers ran into view, having even brought a AAT tank.__"Who are these people?" demanded Zara.__"I don't really know," said Sonya, "But they're not friendly."_

_This was confirmed as the tank fired, blowing a rock tower over their heads to boulders.__"That thing won't be able to get across the gap to Warfang," said Cyril, "But those flying machines can. We have to destroy them."_

_A larger hovering craft came into view, bristling with guns._

_--_

_Dr Johnson looked at the small group through the feed from the gunship droids cameras as a technician ran up. "Sir, orders from the Emperor. They want you to back down. There's an NSC fleet headed for us."_

_Johnson looked at the technician and said, "That can't be right. The NSC think this place is a Z-class hellhole."_

_"Orders, the NSC found one of our ships. They've sent a full fleet," said the technician._

_Johnson swore under his breath and said, "We'll have to evacuate. We cannot let them find the base. Tell all troopers we're pulling out until the NSC are gone."_

_--_

_The Elders and the two dragons were all geared for the onslaught when suddenly the ships began to turn away. "What are they doing?" said Zara, angrily.__"If I had to guess, they're pulling out," said Sonya._

_"But why?" asked Smoldron, "They have the upper hand."__"Never look luck in the mouth," said Sonya as the last fighter vanished from view._

_Then Zara turned towards the young dragons and said, "You had a lot of nerve running off like that. Do you know how much of a panic you caused when you were gone? And now we find you two-" "Using excellent teamwork and cooperation," interrupted Cyril, "Zara, have you noticed that Smoldron doesn't seem shaken at all now?"_

_Zara looked at the confident expression on Smoldron's face. "Yes..." she said, "I suppose Sonya has helped him in that aspect."_

_"I'm sorry about running off," said Smoldron, "It was my fault we were gone so long." Sonya opened her mouth to explain about the bullies...and how she'd lost control when Smoldron carried on, "I wanted to explore and Sonya had to follow me. We ran into those guys."_

_"Well, you should have been more careful," said Cyril, "You should have brought a guide with you."_

_"Sonya was with me. She got the plan to help us escape," said Smoldron. "Right," said Sonya, "I'd always watch out for Smoldron."_

--

Sonya said, "I said I'd always watch out for you...and I'm never going to break that word." Smoldron nodded his head slowly and said, "I know you will." Suddenly, the darkness that had been floating around him faded away.

Matt recognized a private moment and wandered off to check the rubble. Sonya hugged Smoldron. "You're ok," she said, sobbing with happiness.

Smoldron hugged her back and said, "Sonya, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. I'd never want to leave you."

Matt backed back out of a tunnel he'd checked. The undead appeared to have lost patience. "Erm...guys?" he said.

The skeletal warriors were now advancing with axes and swords raised. "We can't use our breath attacks," said Smoldron, "That would use up the last of the air."

"Well...been nice knowing you," said Matt to Smoldron. A rumbling was heard from the collapsed doorway. "Oh great, now it's Heartless too," said Matt. The trio ducked as the rubble exploded inwards and one of the APC's from the Bladestorm rumbled in, firing on the undead.

The three of them took a deep breath as the fresh air rushed in. "That's more like it," said Smoldron before turning and sending a torrent of flames at the undead.

Chloe, in dragon form, literally landed on a trio of advancing undead. "Ow...even I felt that," said Sonya as the furious Lynch went to town on the undead.

"Hey, can't let her have all the fun," said Matt as he turned dragon and started mauling a zombie.

Smoldron watched as the Lynches went to town on the zombies. "Wow, you weren't making up some of that stuff," he said, covering his eyes with a wing.

Smoldron was helped into the fresh air by a couple of marines with Sonya in tow. "We'd better go get the boss. Looks like he'll be here all day if we don't stop him," said one of the marines.

A skull whizzed out of the cave and landed nearby. It glared at the marines with its eye sockets and said, "Insensitive jerks."

The marines kicked it over the horizon and wandered into the cave again. Smoldron looked at Sonya. "Sonya...I...dunno how to say this," he said, nervously. "Say what?" asked Sonya.

"Well, Sonya, I've known you longer than any other dragon and you're the one I trust most of all. I'm not as great as Matt nor do I know what it's like to be human," said Smoldron. "What are you getting at?" asked Sonya.

"We have always had each other's back as long as we've known each other. I want to be for the rest of our lives. Sonya...will you be my mate?"

Sonya just stared. Smoldron gulped and said, "I know...stupid idea. Forget I..." and was stopped as Sonya kissed him. Smoldron was stunned for a minute before kissing back at her. They broke off after a minute and Smoldron asked, "Is that what human females normally do when they accept a mate?" Sonya smiled. "You could say that."

The mood was shattered a bit with another explosion and several of the ghouls ran out, running from a plasma dragon (Matt) giggling insanely.

"Erm, is there some sort of ceremony involved, because I think you'll need to wait a while before asking Matt to be best man, dragon, whatever," said Sonya. There was a cry of "WHO'S LAUGHING NOW? UNDEAD...MWAHAHA!" Sonya rolled her eyes and said, "Much later."

**So now you know what Sonya did in the time on avalar between the first and second soul gem saga and how she met Smoldron. (Note: though it was a couple of years for Matt…on Avalar, only a few months had passed)**

**Tune in next time and please leave a review.**


	5. Blood Steel

**Spyro, Cynder, and all other Spyro related characters are property of Sierra studios. **

**Draco, Contrinus, Chip and Cydra are property of my co-author, Cydra. **

**Matt, his merc team, the NSC and related tech, the ancients/atlanteans and malefors dragon generals are mine.**

**CPS Chronicles**

**Soulless Abyss**

**Chapter 5: Blood Steel**

Darkness...so this was death. He had avoided for ages...even by the other Elders' standards he was old, using dark magic to extend his life. Now it was ended by a feeble Shar-Khan fallen...light...words on his vision?

[Start up initiated...25%...50%...80%...completed]

...

...

[Initializing visual and audio tracking systems]

...Weapon and assimilation systems engaged and fully operational...engaged]

His vision exploded into color, overlaid with a faint green and several numbers...an LED view, a small part of his mind said. A creature could be seen in front of him, placing a crystal into his...

What kind of monstrosity was this?! This wasn't his body at all. It was some sort of mechanical golem, similar to what the humans used, only designed in his own likeness. What kind of sacrilege is this?!

The creature stepped back and seemed to notice he was awake. He said "Oh...you're awake..." his voice sounding distorted through his new hearing.

Red grabbed the creature with his new hand. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME, DEMON?" he roared.

"Er, perhaps I should tell you how it came to be," said the creature, its purple eyes spinning down its neck with nervousness, "It all started when I found these crystals..."

Ghoulwyrm had a good feeling coming from this. As soon as he finished building this dragon bot, it'll be the first in his new line of attack droids.

Ghoulwyrm finished installing several parts into the bot and was looking at the shard of crystal he had found several months previously in the shaft of an ancient facility. He had heard that the empire had bombarded Banshee base and that Malefor and Capt Lynch were dead. He then sensed something...powerful from the shard. "Interesting...I guess you're not as dead as you look," he muttered.

There were still several parts of the robot to install, but the torso was finished. The power unit was the latest part that was connected. "Hmm, I think we better test it to see if can power it," said Ghoulwyrm as he picked the crystal up with a pair of tongs. He wasn't sure what was inside the crystal, but he didn't want it spreading into him.

Suddenly the shard shot out of the tongs so violently that the tongs snapped and clicked into the power unit neatly. As soon as the crystal clicked into place, red energy rippled across the surface. Suddenly, the torso started glowing with red light and the other unfinished robot pieces started to vibrate.

Ghoulwyrm was forced to seek cover when all the unattached parts began to attach themselves, including spare weaponry and several vials of the experimental weapon nanites he had...borrowed from Banshee bases laboratories. They finally finished attaching and Ghoulwyrm slowly leaned in to look...

"So instead of releasing me from that crystal prison, you decide to use me as a windup key for your metal toy?!" shouted the robot dragon, clearly not pleased.

"It's better than being dead, right?" said Ghoulwyrm, making a good point.

Red growled and said, "I suppose, but it's hardly an appropriate vessel for me."

"Your body was a model set...and definitely dead," said Ghoulwyrm, adding, "Believe me, I'm an expert on dead."

"Well, I guess the mold's broken now, isn't it?" said Red.

"I suppose...I am your humble servant, Ghoulwyrm," said the undead dragon, bowing.

Red stopped "What was that?" he said curiously.

The three wolf cubs ducked back down. "Did it see us? I told you we should not have left the camp, Vanya," said one of them "What were those things?" asked another one. "I don't know. One of them looked...dead to me," said the third cub.

"The other one didn't really look alive either," said the first one, "Metal can't be alive, right?" "I don't know...the creatures that aided against Malefor had metal," said Vanya. "I think we should tell the elders about this," said the third cub.

A horrible metallic voice said, "You're not telling them anything, mongrels," before the undead dragon poked his head through their cover and snared them in tentacles. Ghoulwyrm pulled his captives back and said, "Look what I caught." Red smirked coldly, made even creepier by his glowing green eyes. "This new form's vision is...impressive," he said, walking towards Vanya, "Spies are younger every season."

"What...who are you?" asked Vanya.

"I am Elder Red...back from the netherworld," said Red, before being briefly confused as a caption appeared over his vision, saying:

[engage assimilation nanites Y/N?]

"Assimilation nanites? What are those?" thought Red, "Hmm, well, if they provide a painful death, go ahead."

Before Vanya could squirm free, Red grabbed the cub's face and a strange insectoid scratching could be heard. Judging from the muffled screams, it hurt. Red then noticed what looked like thin cables worming along the surface of the cub's skin. "What sorcery is this?" wondered Red.

Finally the cubs screams petered away and the cabling carried on, forming armor over the extremities and what looked like a cannon over the lower left arm. The claws on the other arm extended into lethal weapons.

Red would have lifted his eyebrow he had one anymore. "Very interesting," he said. The other two cubs tried even harder to get loose as Red let go of the now limp cub. Cybernetics covered half the former wolf's face and the visible eye had a blank vacant look. Red looked the transformed cub straight in the eye and asked her, "Whom do you serve?"

"Prime unit," intoned the cub in a monotone voice. One of the others yelled, "Vanya, what are you saying?" Red glanced at Ghoulwyrm and asked "What does it mean by 'prime unit'?" "Er, I believe that would be you," said Ghoulwyrm. He was a bit nervous now not just because of what happened to the wolf cub, but learning he had given the most feared dragon wizard in Avalar history a new body.

Red looked at his new minion. True he had mind controlled before...but his 'apprentice' had usually been his downfall in both cases. "Minion...kill them," he said.

Without a word, the transformed cub turned around and pointed her cannon at her friends' heads. One of the cubs managed to say "Vanya?" before a blue pulse blast vaporized him. The other turned and ran before another blast hit him in the back. "Mission complete," said Vanya.

"Excellently done," said Red, "It appears that there are benefits to this new body after all." Ghoulwyrm gulped. He'd handed Red probably immortality and the weapons to take Avalar in a week. "Prime Unit...suitable units are located 3 kilometers to the north," said Vanya. "Excellent," said Red, "More recruits for my army."

"Er, yes," said Ghoulwyrm, "I'm sure you'll want to test your new powers on them, Elder Red." "Elder Red..." Red paused and thought for a minute, "No, that title seems too outdated. This new body deserves a new name. I believe I shall go by... Mecha Red."

The mood in Warfang was slightly more cheerful of late, even with the threat of the Heartless hanging over the city's heads. Apparently, even holidays had alternates in other universes and Valentine's day was no exception.

In fact, the only one not in the holiday spirit was Matt. Chloe was also not in a good mood. Her dragon side had become dominant in the night and had more or less wrecked her clothes. Chris was the last one in a bad mood as he had suffered Chloe's wrath when he had walked in to give her a wakeup call just as she found out.

"Does the term 'overreacting' mean anything to you?" said Chris. "Does the term 'knock before entering' mean anything to you?" asked Chloe. "Does the term 'SHUT UP' MEAN ANYTHING?" yelled Matt, in a bad mood, and as he was still in his dragon form, this more or less silenced Chloe and Chris.

"I agree with Matt," said Draco as he and Chip walked into the same room, "What's the argument about this time? Someone left the milk out again?"

"My dragon form became dominant in the night..." said Chloe before glaring at Chris "And SOMEONE didn't knock before entering." "So what? It's not like you were human when he walked in," said Chip. There was a brief moment of silence and Chip, "Uh, when you transformed, did that mean your clothes were torn apart?"

"Yes...Matt's had his clothing enchanted to regenerate, mine hasn't had the enchantment yet," said Chloe angrily. "I said I was sorry," said Chris angrily. "Then that meant that Chris saw you when you were...naked," said Chip weakly. "I'm surprised Chris is still in one piece then," said Draco. "Only because I was quick enough to run," muttered Chris.

"Or perhaps she was holding back for you," said Chip. "Oh boy," muttered Matt behind Chloe, who's eyes went solid red before she involuntarily transformed and swatted Chip out via a wall. Luckily, her clothes were enchanted this time. "Er, well, I think I'm gonna go check on Contrinus," said Draco, "This holiday's rather infectious if you know what I mean." "Yeah," said Matt in a gloomy voice.

"Cheer up Matt, you're not the only one solo today," said Matt.

"Yeah, name one," said Matt. "Can I do two?" asked Draco. "Sisters don't count," snarled Matt. Matt glanced at Chloe and said, "I'm not so sure about that, but that's not who I had in mind. Sparx and Xephros have been trying to get dates, but, as you can imagine, they don't have real...courting skills." "Yeah...Xephros is a bit...stuck up and Sparx is...well...Sparx," said Matt, continuing before flopping back down. "I miss Kala," he said.

"Don't worry, true love always prevails," said Draco. "Really?" asked Matt. "Well, if don't count 'Romeo & Juliet', but that's more debatable. I am not that forte with Shakespearian." Matt got up and yawned. "Might as well go outside..." he said before heading to the door.

He looked outside and said, "You've gotta be kidding me." Hearts decorations were pinned up everywhere. Several young dragon couples were rubbing necks with each other. The only thing missing from the scene was a little boy with angel wings shooting heart-headed arrows from his bow.

However, there was a topper of a quite different nature. A large pink heart-shaped bubble was floating through the air. Morph was clutching the bottom of it. Matt heard Morph say, "I bet you taste like strawberries."

"Uh, Morph, I wouldn't-" started Matt before there was a very loud pop and Morph fell to the ground, trailing smoke behind him. "Hearts break with a pretty big bang," commented Matt. Matt watched for about 10 seconds before walking back inside. "Matt?" said Draco. "I'm going back to bed and having WARDEN beam down the entire ship's supply of junk food," said Matt gloomily.

Draco shook his head and said, "Poor Matt, we ought to do something for him." "Like what?" asked Chloe. "I don't know, you chucked the big thinker through the wall, remember?" Chloe looked through the hole and leaned back in. "He's fine, he's speaking German again though."

Chip stood up shakily and said in a high-pitched voice. "Not to worry, I landed on my head, and it's particularly soft today. Ahahahahahaha!" Then his head spun around and he said in a deeper voice, "Where is zat fat cow who launched me through zat wall?!"

Draco whimpered as Chloe glared and literally roared, "WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?" "Uh, you know Chip's not in his right mind right now, right?" asked Draco. Chloe turned and snarled at Draco who jumped back. "Just an opinion," he squeaked.

Matt was sitting on the floor of his room, moping when the wall caved in and Chip flew into the opposite wall. "What...the hell," he said simply, before peering through the hole. Chip sat up and shook his head. "Uh, was I channeling the German guy with the three-way split personalities again?" he asked.

Matt looked at the dent in the wall and at the fuming dragoness his sister was currently. "Most likely," he said. Chip picked up a picture frame that had a photo of Matt and Kala from the last time they were New York. "You know, Matt, if you miss Kala so much, I could set up a virtual reality program so you could go on a date with her or something," said Chip.

Matt turned to look at Chip. From Chip's point of view it would have been better if he had glared but Matt just looked sad before turning away.

"I know it wouldn't be really Kala, but it's the next best thing," said Chip, "And it isn't cheating either. You just have to delete when we get Kala back. Not that she'd ever mind, that is." This time Matt did glare. "No...no," he said faintly. "Well, I can't really suggest finding someone else," said Chip, "I know all that'll get me is another short flight via energy blast." "Well done," said Matt, his voice having gained an edge. "This time I am going for a walk," he said, turning human and walking out.

Matt figured he'd wander around until it was lunchtime and avoid looking at love-themed decorations. However, he instead ran into Volteer. "Ah, Matthew, enjoying the holiday, are we?" said Volteer. Matt gave Volteer an annoyed look that would have sent a plague of locust flying in the opposite direction. "Er, clearly not. Well, it has come to my concern that a merchant trope from a bordering community has been notably absent when their expected delivery was anticipated."

"Erm...you mean some merchants are late?" hazarded Matt. When it came to what Volteer was saying, you could never be too careful.

"Precisely," said Volteer, "Though their supplies are not of an emergency nature, I fear to speculate that an event unforeseen could have caused an unfortunate delay." "You mean Heartless..." said Matt, feeling his spirits take a further nosedive.

"On the contrary," said Volteer, "The abundance of light in the aforementioned community reveals a significant absence of the Heartless. Which is somewhat ironic considering the numerous objects of decor that are shaped like the Heartless' primary diet."

"Plus they have the old fort the Atlanteans built. Was nice of Morgan and Xavier to give out the codes," said Matt. "Indeed, but I feel that a guided survey should be taken to identify if a dilemma has occurred," said Volteer. "Fine. I'll get the heavy squad together. Just cause the Heartless cannot be seen doesn't mean they're there," said Matt, "I hope I can get some people willing to come."

To his surprise, Matt found that his close dragon friends were willing to help. "You guys wanna skip out on the festivities for this?" he was asking. "It's probably just a blocked path. Niagina Town is built into the side of a canyon and a collapse can easily cut it off for days. It's happened before," said Cynder.

Matt frowned. "It's never easy," he said darkly.

"You're just being paranoid," said Ember. "My paranoia has been formed with good reason," said Matt, shaking a finger "The addled one has a point," said Draco. Chip decided to stay behind in case Chloe was still grumpy about the 'fat cow' remark. "Well...I do hope it's just a smashed path. We can just fly the goods back then," said Matt.

It turned out Matt was still not sure, having ordered WARDEN to have a flight of starfuries circling as well as have a second team in a dropship. "How far to the town?" called Matt, looking down into Niagina canyon. The bottom could not be seen.

"Should be a few more miles," said Spyro, "We'll be there in a few minutes." The group flew along before the comm in Matt's ear turned on, a message from the leader of the starfury flight circling. Draco had helped WARDEN modify a comm headset for Matt's draconic form. "Sir...this is starlight 1...we have a visual on the town...no sign of activity." "No Heartless there?" asked Matt. "Negative. No activity at all to be detected," said WARDEN.

Starlight 1's pilot came back on. "Sir...I have a visual on the blastdoor for the Atlantean shelter...sealed up tight," said the pilot. At that the dragons and the marines came round the corner to see the town. The first thought that came to Matt's mind was 'ghost town.' The streets were completely deserted. He almost felt that there should be some tumbleweeds rolling around.

The marines and Techo jumped out the dropship . "I don't like this. There's no struggle, no sign of a panic, nothing," said Techo, looking into a building to see a meal set at a table. Sonya sniffed at it and said, "It's still warm. Whatever happened didn't happen too long ago."

Matt and Chloe exchanged glances and nodded at the marines. The marines all pulled out heavy duty weapons...all high caliber explosive tipped ammo. "Spread out...perimeter, on the double," ordered Matt, pointing to the two main streets.

Matt and Chloe were about to head out as well when they heard munching sounds behind them. They slowly turned around to see Morph eating the meal. "What?" he said, "I was hungry." Spyro said, "What's going on?" confused to the sudden attitude change. "It's a long story, a little nightmare that's haunted us ever since it occurred. A colony in the badlands got wiped out by an accidental mutagen release. That looked deserted too...right up till the mutants began munching on our team."

Sonya shuddered and said, "Sounds like something out of a horror movie. Then again, so does this."

"It was the reason I was on Athens colony when your captain recruited me...the colony was Sy-Yong," said Matt.

Sonya gulped. "Why don't we go?" she said nervously. "Good idea," said Matt, "And keep your eye out for anything weird." As he was turning around, Morph jumped in front of him and yelled "BOOGEY, BOOGEY, BOOGEY!"

Matt screamed and blasted Morph back into one of the buildings. "DON'T DO THAT, YOU BLOBBLY NOODLE BRAIN!" he screamed. "Totally worth it," said Morph's voice out of the hole. One of the marines said, "All clear, we missed whatever happened here."

Another said, "The shelter's been put in lockdown. Survivors must be in there." "Ok, we better go in there and check on them," said Chloe, "They should be able to tell us what happened." "Fine...Captain...get into that shelter any way you can. I'm gonna try and find out what makes a full group of people hide in a shelter," said Matt.

Matt and the dragons went out into the town to see if they could turn up any clues. Matt made an important point to keep eyes up so something wouldn't get the drop on them. The town was deserted. The gates on the other side of the town were even still locked. "Ok...this is creeping me out, big time," said Techo, nervously after five minutes.

"Me too," said Matt, "A whole town's population doesn't just poof just like that." Chloe nodded. "You're right. Does anyone know if the town guard keeps notes?" she said. "This isn't NSC territory," said Chris, "We're not dealing with fully-trained soldiers, we're dealing with, with... What kind of people live here again?"

"This place was a mix...jaguar, cheetah and wolves," said Matt, "I was here a month, Xavier and Morgan took me out of the city to train." "Ok, then you ought to know where the guards' outposts would be," said Chris.

Matt looked around before seeing a small building near the gate. "There," he said, running over to find two jaguars in guard armor. They were definitely dead if the holes in their chests were any judge and the smell of... "Plasma?" said Matt "Heartless can't shoot plasma, can they?" asked Sonya.

"Not this stuff...smells like anti-tank plasma...phased plasma rifle," said Matt, peering in to see two neat holes in the far wall inside. "Heavy duty at that," he added. "But I thought the Empire cleared out long ago," said Chloe. "I know...they use lasers though," said Techo. "Well, the only ones that could be on this planet that can use weapons-grade plasma would be Matt, which it obviously isn't, and Ghoulwyrm, if he's still around," said Chris.

"Oh no...he can't be here," said Matt. Chloe nodded. "Yeah...Matt would have freaked out by now if that was the case." Spyro peered at the holes in the town guards and said, "Besides, Ghoulwyrm breathes his plasma out as a flame. This is too concentrated and precise." Unnoticed, Ghoulwyrm was peering from a rooftop. "Master Red? They're right in time," he said.

Meanwhile, Red had figured out how to tap into surveillance cameras and was currently watching Flame and Ember. The two of them have grown since he last saw them. It apparently had been a while.

He could remember when Niagara had been built by the ancients...a special cliff town. Now their paranoia was his advantage. Old sensors that had not functioned in millennia were working...for HIM. He aimed his arm at them and a small pulse cannon folded out the wrist. "So tempting, one shot would remove you both." he muttered. But then Red retracted the cannon and said, "But no, I have a more excruciating vengeance in mind for you two. But first, I need bait."

A few marines had stayed with Flame and Ember. "So what do you think it is?" asked Flame. "I haven't any idea," said Ember, "I've never heard of any attacks like this."

Suddenly, one of the marines said, "Shush, did you hear that?" They all paused until they distinctly heard a cry of 'Help!' come from one of the buildings. The marines and the dragons turned. "A survivor?" said a marine before they headed for the large building. It was pretty secure, some kind of food vault.

Flame stopped. He could feel a chill in the air...not since he had been... "NO! STOP!" he yelled to the marines working at the door before a blast incinerated the door and the marines. "Flame? What's going on?" asked Ember, the smoke causing a lot of vision problem. "Big trouble," said Flame.

"Fang...it is nice you remember me. I definitely remember you...and your pink puff of a mate," said a distorted voice. Flame's eyes widened with surprise. "No...it can't be," he said disbelievingly. A shape appeared. "But it is...not even death can stop me," said Red's distorted voice before a laser sight appeared on Ember's chest. "But first, we should talk alone."

"EMBER, RUN!" yelled Flame. Ember dodged just in time to avoid a glob of blue plasma that made a crater where she had been. Ember quickly ran out of the building. There was a metallic snarl before Red said, "No matter, I shall deal with her soon enough. You should have taken your own advice."

Flame backed up, baring his teeth. "I'd rather die than join you again," he said. Red laughed, "Don't be boring. Everyone who says that has died," before coming into Flames vision. "As you can see, I did not escape...unharmed." To Flame's surprise, Red wasn't the same dragon mage who had first manipulated him. His body was now all mechanical, though still bearing a dark red color. His head looked just like a robotic version of Red's, only shining green optics were glaring at Flame now.

"You did this to me. You will join me...regardless of choice," said Red, his eyes pulsing with each word spoken and reaching for the young dragon.

Matt was looking at some guard notes. Apparently a wolf traveler tribe had been due to arrive but had been overdue...and that was it. Suddenly, Ember came tearing round the corner. "MATTREDISBACKANDHEKILLEDTHEOTHERSANDHE'SGOTFLAMEANDSOMETHING'SBAD'SGONNAHAPPENANDWECAN'TSTAYHEREAND-" "Whoa, whoa, slow down," said Smoldron, "I can't understand you when you're talking that fast."

A voice said, "I think the little smeghead's referring to my master." Matt's eye twitched. "Undead..." he gibbered which was all the warning the other mercs needed.

A purple lightning bolt struck down where they were standing moments ago before Ghoulwyrm flew down from a nearby rooftop. As soon as he landed, he let out a loud sonic howl. Another blast hit one of the marines in the chest, going through the armor like it was nothing. Matt looked up to a wolf shape on the roof of a building. Another pulse blast shot at him, only to explode harmlessly due to his plasma immunity.

"OPEN FIRE!" shouted Chloe as she started blasting at the figure on the roof. The remaining marines, Chris, and Techo quickly joined in. However, they may as well have been using peashooters since the plasma bursts didn't even knock the figure back. Another two shots were fired, each shot killing a marine before the shape jumped down landing in front of a third marine and shoving his hand through the guy's chest and throwing the body at Chris.

That was when they could get a good look at it. It looked like a wolf, but at least half of its body had been converted into cybernetics, giving the wolf a freaky Frankenstein/cyborg look. Matt raised his blaster, a modified MP5 submachinegun and fired into it.

There were puffs in the creatures chest for each bullet, a few corresponding with identical puffs at the back. The creature turned to look at Matt and began to walk towards him. Matt kept firing, but the wolf cyborg just kept walking forward as if it were only a slight rain shower rather than bullets being pelted through it.

Chris pulled out one of his newer weapons. "Matt, hit the deck!" he yelled before firing it. The sound was like a small tank cannon and the shell sent the creature flying back into the wall, heavily damaging it.

Despite this it still tried to crawl towards them. "Terminate...targets…" it intoned weakly.

"Ok, this thing is seriously freaking me out now," said Matt, deciding to fall back to his own personal plasma powers. He looked at the creature as it slowly crawled towards him. It wasn't even bleeding blood, more like thick oil. "Sorry," he said sadly and sent a stream into the creature till it stopped moving. It didn't even make a sound.

"Ghoulwyrm's gone," said the last surviving marine. "Ok, did he boast about anything important?" asked Matt, "I was paying too much attention to the techno-organic creature that refused to die." Ember freaked out at this. "WHO CARES? RED'S BACK AND HE'S GOT FLAME!" she screamed.

At that there was a cry from the distance. Matt gulped and the group began running towards where the cry...and Flame were. "Wait...what if the people in the bunker are..." said Chloe. Matt gulped and turned on the comm. "Guys, whatever you do, don't open the bunker. I think something's happened that-" Matt didn't have time to get a response because there was the sound of metal clanking open and then the sounds of screams before the connection went dead.

Gunfire could be heard from the bunker's direction before petering out. Any more thoughts ended as they reached the food vault and saw Mecha Red, holding Flame's face in a nasty grip. Flame seemed to be having a fit. Matt could see some of the same cybernetics forming...only more total. He growled and sent a blast of plasma that shaped into a disc that sliced the holding arm off at the elbow.

Red glanced at his severed limb as if it were a talon that needed trimming. "Hmm, interesting, apparently I no longer feel any pain in this body. This body gets more superior to my original by the minute," he said.

Matt glared. "I'm not done yet," he said and sent the disc flying back. Red saw the glint in Matt's eyes and only just ducked, the blade slicing the tops off his heads ears instead of decapitating him as Matt had planned.

"Not bad," said Red, "You're fighting style has improved. More like a dragon's." Matt stopped the plasma disc above his palm. "From you...that's almost an insult," he said. At that, Spyro and Cynder, who had circled around sent some element blasts at Red's back. "But my fighting style has also been modified," said Red. Then his back panels opened up and a large cannon emerged. Spyro and Cynder barely moved before an electro-net shot at them. Red turned. "That was it?" he said.

"What's the matter?" said Matt cheekily, "An old lizard like you can't keep up with the times?" Red turned angrily and fired something, something that went through Matt's shield...AND his armor. "Urm...ow," said Matt before collapsing.

"There, that's more like it," said Red, "Now where was I? Oh yes." He turned towards Spyro and Cynder and activated the flamethrower in his mouth. Chloe however had completely freaked out, screeching like a mauled animal and lunging at Red, tackling the large mech and attempting to rip parts off.

Red was rather surprised by this attack. Though his external armor was extremely endurable, Chloe's claws were working their way through. But then Red activated the electro net cannon again and pinned Chloe to the wall of a building with it. Luckily, Chloe wasn't bothered by the charge thanks to her dragon side, tearing at the net.

Chris and Techo however had pulled Matt out of range. "Damn," said Chris, seeing that whatever had been shot had torn into Matt's chest, leaving a nasty wound. Matt had passed out from the injury. "Wait a minute," said Techo, "What am I doing? Red's in a robot body now. An EMP should short him out easy."

Chris nodded. "Go for it...does anyone hear footsteps?" he said before they looked down the street to see a dozen or so shapes walking towards them. "Oh, hell no," said Chris.

The shapes turned out to be the inhabitants of the town, or what was left of them. They were at various stages of cybernetic conversion. Some of them simply had mechanical limbs while others looked more techno than organic.

A mix of blasts, some the plasma blast, other bursts of arc lightning that sent showers of sparks where they hit. Chris fired his Tagar-13 at the nearest, knocking its head off. The headless cyborg walked forward a few more steps before its body got the message that it was decapitated and fell over.

"This officially sucks!" yelled Techo, firing his laser rifle at the cyborgs. Sonya breathed out a stream of supercooled air that created a large wall of ice in front of and partially made of the front line of the cyborgs. "That's not gonna hold them for long," said Sonya, "You think we should make a strategic retreat?"

"Where do you suggest? Not everyone has wings. What if Reddy has an AA laser built in?" said Techo, angrily.

Meanwhile, Chloe had almost broken free of the net. As far as she knew, Red had just killed Matt. That filled her with a one-track need to tear the automaton to pieces. As a matter of fact, she was thinking no cognitive thoughts at all, having gone all bestial.

Red finally managed to get a grip on her front leg, squeezing till he heard a snap but all the broken bone did was infuriate the electric dragoness more. There was this to be said: electric dragons were not just talkative, they had thunderous tempers too, demonstrated as Chloe tore the offending arm off by biting it.

Red was more irked than worried about missing both arms now, but he realized that Chloe was probably going to get more savage before she calms down. He turned to look at Flame, who was out cold as his special concoction of nanites were working, his mate trying to wake him.

"Flame! Flame! Wake up!" shouted Ember. Flame twitched, but when he opened his eyes, they had a quite different look. "Actually, the name's Fang," he said before turning and blasting Chloe with fire.

Ember jumped back. She still remembered the dark persona Red had helped create the previous year. Red was laughing insanely as Chloe tried to fight off 'Fang' while still with her broken wrist. "Flame, stop it! You're not really Fang! Fight it off, you could do it before," said Ember.

Red laughed as Fang ignored Embers plea's as a newly formed shoulder cannon activated and began rattling at her. Ember quickly ran to avoid the cannon's shots before going around in a circle and tackling Fang off of Chloe. Chloe screamed again and jumped up, her anger temporarily focused on Fang.

Meanwhile, Spyro and Cynder were still fighting Red, who was still not out of the fight. "You'll join your human freak friend soon, blood traitor, throwing in your lot with the Ancients' descendants." "Matt is far from down, but you're going down too," said Cynder.

"And you can't call us blood traitors anymore," said Spyro, "You're not a dragon. You've forfeited your right to be one long before you became trapped in crystal."

"My sight showed my shot enter his gut. If he is not dead yet, he soon will be without a healer...a slow death perfect for him," taunted Red, nastily.

"You should be more concerned about yourself," said Cynder, "You're missing both front legs and your armor's all bent up. I'm surprised your battery hasn't given out." She paused and turned to Spyro, "Batteries, that's what powers robots, right?" "Yeah, I think so," said Spyro.

"I am powered by my magic," said Red, and at that energy linked to his fallen limbs and they shot back into place. "And I am far from fallen," he said, before firing his arm cannons at them. The two of them dodged the blasts before hitting Red with lightning and Banshee Wails.

Red staggered back before laughing. "Electricity and fear? Electricity is my blood now, you simply strengthen me...and I no longer fear ANYTHING!" he yelled, sending a pulse blast into Cynder's chest.

Cynder was thrown backwards and hit the wall with a moan. However, Red detected a bit of darkness in Cynder that was not of Cynder.

It stank of his first apprentice and even older, darker magic. "Traitor to the old ones," he hissed and extended a stabbing tool from his wrist, heading over to impale her when a purple beam hit him in the side, knocking him down.

Red's optics were temporarily knocked offline by the unexpected blast. When the static cleared, he saw Spyro, surrounded by an aura of purple light and his eyes glowing white. "You will harm no one else here," he said, his voice echoing, making him sound like some kind of deity.

"So...you, like Malefor, master Convexity," he said, staggering to his feet before a lighting blast hit him in the back, flooding his vision with 'Overload' warning messages before his limbs seized up.

However, his neck was still operation and he turned it around to see Chloe. She was still snarling like an angry beast, only acknowledging her broken wrist by keeping it off the ground. She glared at Red and bared her fangs, foam dripping from her mouth.

Red finally felt fear as a scan gave a success percentage...0%. "No...NO!" he yelled. That's when he was picked up by bandage-like tendrils. "I think that's enough excitement for now," said Ghoulwyrm as he turned invisible along with Red.

Chloe shrieked angrily as her prey faded from sight before clawing at the place Red had been and finally turning angrily as Fang yelled "MASTER!" and fired at her.

Just then, Morph walked out of the building Matt had blasted into him earlier. "Hey guys, you won't believe the stuff they've got in-" He paused when he saw the general chaos. "Can't a guy go get something to eat without something starting up?" said the blob to himself.

Fang turned snarling and sent a burst of fire at Morph. Morph quickly and literally flattened himself on the floor. "I think someone needs to take a nap," he said before morphing into Drowsy and running over to Fang.

Fang looked at the sheep-like experiment with confusion and said, "What the-" before Drowsy bleated at his face. Fang went cross-eyed before falling sideways, a drunk grin in his face. "But I dun wanna go to training mommyyyy…" he said drunkenly before starting to snore.

Just then, Chris and Techo came around. The dragons were right behind them, Smoldron carrying Matt on his back. "We need to get out of here," said Techo, "Those cyborg freaks are smashing through the ice."

Then he and Chris noticed Chloe, who was growling at them in an animal-like fashion. "Oh shit, she's gone all feral," said Chris.

Techo added "...again," before seeing the others. "Long story in another universe, don't ask. Matt's alive, Chloe," he said, adding the last loudly to Chloe who nudged Matt with a whine.

Chloe looked at Techo and was making odd sounds in her throat. "Easy there, Chloe, relax," said Chris, rubbing his hand down Chloe's neck, "Just clear your thoughts and work on remembering to speak."

Chloe winced before saying, "He's alive?" weakly before shimmering back into a sobbing human form who hugged Matt who said weakly, "Ow...kidney."

"We better get him and 'Fang' back to Contrinus, pronto," said Techo. "Speaking of which, where's Draco?" asked Ember. Just then, a hole blew out from the bunker and Draco quickly flew out of hit, clawmarks and burns all over his body. "Guys, we've got a problem. The villagers have been turned into..." he started before noticing their conditions, "Oh, you already know then."

The comm of all the teams beeped. "Sir, I am detecting a class 1 incident within the town, cybernetic drones of some kind," said WARDEN. "Yeah, that's the second unneeded warning we've gotten in the last minute," said Chris sarcastically. "Sir...NSC law indicates that the town must be liquidated at once," said WARDEN. Spyro said, "'Liquidated'?" Chloe said grimly, "Destroyed...totally."

"But these are innocent people," said Draco, "Or, were innocent people. Shouldn't we be trying to find how to undo whatever's been done to them?" "My scans indicate the nanites are some form of advanced weapon unlisted in the NSC database, probably made at Banshee Facility's labs. There is no cure," said WARDEN. Matt said simply, "No."

WARDEN said, "Then I have no alternative." With that all the coms went to recieve only. Matt's voice came over the comm. "Starlight 1...we need a liquidation strike on the town. It's hell down here." The real Matt swore and said, "Techo, we need to find out how to undo Red's hoodoo quick." "Nanite hacking's really difficult," said Techo, "I'm not sure if I can do it in time."

Draco gave Chloe an annoyed look and said, "You just had to toss the hacking experiment through a wall twice, didn't you?" Chris then heard a faint wail of incoming starfuries. "Oh no...maybe we should discuss this elsewhere?"

"Right," said Chloe, "First things' first. Matt and Flame need to be treated. Flame's probably becoming more machine by the second and Matt..." Her voice trailed off as tears started to form in her eyes again.

"You can carry me," said Matt weakly before turning to look as one of the cyborgs blew a hole in from an alley and marched in, only to be blown to pieces by a plasma burst. "I...still got it," he said.

The group quickly got to their dropship and started flying back to Warfang. However, they saw the starfuries appear and carpet-bomb the town as they left. The large explosions and flames reflected off the dropship's hull as it made a beeline for Warfang.

Back in Warfang, Matt was taken to a healer straight away but Chloe first called WARDEN. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?" she yelled. "My primary programming," said WARDEN simply, "I was originally programmed for quarantine enforcement, to make sure that potential plagues could not result in the deaths of NSC citizens or their allies. You recall that I was originally positioned at a lab where Infected were contained."

"But Avalar..." began Chloe and stopped, "The NSC added them." WARDEN's hologram nodded. "A quarantine AI must not allow or by lack of action allow, the death of NSC citizens of citizens of their allies." Chloe glared. "Never again," she said.

Chloe stomped right out past Chip, not even noticing him. Of course, Chip had noticed her, having heard the entire conversation. He walked into the room Chloe left and said to WARDEN, "I appreciate the concern, if that's an appropriate term, that you feel for the Avalarians, but I feel that a less drastic measure could have been used."

"Would you have used less? The creatures took heavy tungsten ammunition to decommission, only Lt Anderson carried a weapon using such ammo. If they had reached the city they would have killed everyone. I acted when my master would not," said WARDEN. "I understand that scenario and I agree with the reaction to such a situation," said Chip, "However, I disagree that a cure for this nanite infection is impossible."

"I disagree. The nanotech is radically different even from your own system. I tried hundreds of logged virus's on the samples taken from Master Flame, has there been improvement? Matt smashed his comm camera."

"Some, but not radically," said Chip, "I've been studying Flame, as soon as he was healed and gaining Ember's permission. The nanites do multiply at an exponential rate, but I believe that if we sever their individual connections to other nanites, they'd cease to function and would be unable to attach to the host body."

"I will transmit such findings to NSC Special operations," said WARDEN. "I see, I presume you're going to be using Matt's voice again?" said Chip in an accusing voice. WARDEN said, "Mr Lynch was not acting logically. I acted accordingly and within NSC law."

"Logic is not a ruling factor in all sentient beings," said Chip, "I think you failed to take into account the emotional backlash for such a maneuver." "I will do it again. Nothing can prevent that," said WARDEN, in a cool voice. "I believe I can persuade you otherwise," said Chip, his right hand flickering with indigo electricity.

"You would not dare..." said WARDEN before a blast hit his hologram that flickered. "Warning: voice imitation software deleted..." he said in a monotone voice before glaring at Chip. "Now, how about we work on finding a way to weaponize the virus?" said Chip. "What virus?" asked WARDEN. "This one," said Chip as he uploaded the data schematics for a virus he had created. WARDEN's anger was forgotten. He was a military AI after all. "This should be simple..." he began.

Meanwhile, Ghoulwyrm and Mecha Red reappeared in the desert a considerable distance away from where they had been. Ghoulwyrm hissed in discomfort at the strong light of the sun. "Oh, grow up," said Red.

Ghoulwyrm glared. "It's ok for you. You're solar powered," he muttered before seeing an oasis in the distance and shade for Ghoulwyrm. It also had two voices raised in argument.

"I swear, if you bring up Malefor one more time, I'm going to strangle that useless neck of yours."

"At least Malefor will think well of me when he returns to power." "For the hundredth time, he's dead. Totally gone. There's nothing left. I don't know about you, but I don't want to guard an empty cave for the rest of my life."

"Blasphemy...HE KNOWS ALL!" yelled the second voice before there was a hollow 'bop' noise such as might be made by someone's skull meeting a coconut. "Ow...that was unnecessary," said the same voice, in a childish tone this time.

Red looked interested. "Now who could that be?" he asked. Ghoulwyrm rolled his eyes and said, "No one you'd want riding on your tail, I can assure you that." "Malefor will return," said the second voice again gloomily. The first voice said, "No, I went back, the whole base is a smoking crater and was crawling with Shar-Khan."

"A mere ruse," said the second voice, "He hides now but will rise up more powerful than before."

"FOR ANCIENTS' SAKE..." began the second voice and stopped as Red and Ghoulwyrm walked into view, revealing the voices owners. The two of them screamed loudly and tried to run away before running into each other. Ghoulwyrm sighed and said, "Calm down, you seen me before."

Devina stopped. "Oh no...not you again. Zyvar, you haven't improved with the millennia," she said.

Red turned. "Zyvar, I remember banishing you for experimenting with Convexity when I was still with the Elders," he said.

"Well, a lot of things have changed since then," said Ghoulwyrm, "Including my living status."

"I know, I remember when you let A ASSASSIN TEAM GET ME!" roared Devina, "I spent 3 centuries in a damn ebony gem."

"How many times have I told you? I was recently brought back to life that day. My brain wasn't working at full capacity," said Ghoulwyrm. Red was laughing his head off and stopped now. "Your master is gone. You will serve me," he said. "Malefor is never gone," said Raptor, "His might shall last forever."

Red sighed. "No, he is not. You will join me...or you will be killed...then you will join me," he said coldly.

"There is none who could be superior to Malefor. An imitation dragon shall never replace him," said Raptor. "Yeah, who are you anyways to think you can just lord over us?" demanded Devina.

Red sighed and spotted a lizard on the ground. He snatched it and used his nanites on it before showing the results. "I can do that to you as well...your choice." Devina gulped and said, "Er, what should we call you, boss?" "I am Mecha Red...your master," said Red, his eyes glowing red.

Raptor's ears perked up. "Mecha Red? As in Elder Red, the one who taught Malefor the ways to power?" he asked. "The one and only, however the humans have released the seal on the portal denying the old ones release. I sensed the taint on a young dragon in their service. We will be leaving," Red said.

"Leaving?" asked Devina, "But if the old legends are true, there will be no place on Avalar the old ones won't swallow with darkness." "Which is why Zyvar here is going to provide the means to leave this planet," said Red, glancing at Ghoulwyrm.

Ghoulwyrm sighed and seemed to stick his hand into an invisible window before pulling down a line. A portal burst into life, a grassy field on the other side. Raptor looked into the portal and asked, "How did you do that?" "I unlike you, have not been a special paperweight. I had the chance to learn," said Ghoulwyrm cheekily.

Red looked through the portal and said, "Is this another world or just another part of Avalar?" "A nice little version of Earth, you'll need time to adapt to the local magic field. But once you're ready, you can have...fun," said Ghoulwyrm. "Sounds interesting," said Devina, "But how do we know you're not just going to maroon us somewhere?" "Because I wanna go there too. I got...business there," said Ghoulwyrm.

Red glared at Ghoulwyrm and said, "You better not be pulling a trick, or I will have your flesh."

As Mecha Red was going through the portal, Ghoulwyrm said to himself, "It's a good thing I'm mostly dead flesh."

Back at Warfang, the couples were getting back into the spirit of the holiday. They had separated and gone to their own places to be with their dear ones. Draco was currently flying with Contrinus on his back. Contrinus had to ride because Draco was having her wear a blindfold. "Draco, is this really necessary?" asked Contrinus.

"Yes it is," said Draco, "You don't want to spoil the surprise, do you?" Contrinus sighed and said, "It had better be worth going through all this rigmarole." "Oh, it will be, it will be," said Draco.

Eventually, she felt Draco land somewhere. "Don't look yet," said Draco. Contrinus felt Draco pick her up and place her on something soft, like a cushion. "Ok, you can look now," said Draco. Contrinus took off the blindfold and saw that she and Draco were on top of one of the towers. From this height, they had an impressive view of the entire city and into the countryside beyond. But what was really impressive is the small table with the picnic basket and candlesticks on it.

"Oh, a candlelit dinner!" squealed Contrinus, "You planned all this yourself?" "Well, actually, Chip thought up most of it and prepared the dinner, but I set up the table and cushions up here," said Draco. "Oh, you're so sweet," said Contrinus. "I do the best I can," said Draco modestly. He reached into the basket and pulled out a bottle of champagne. "A little something before we start our meal?"

Contrinus giggled and said, "It sure would be nice after that long flight."

At this point, most men would pull out a corkscrew and use it to remove the bottle's cork. But Draco had sharp claws and didn't require a corkscrew. A little nail-digging, a little pressure and, pop, the cork flew off with a little bit of foam. Since Draco was now pouring the champagne into glasses, he didn't see the cork fly out over the edge of the tower.

Morph had managed to catch another heart bubble and was now sitting on top of it. He didn't have a care in the world until a cork suddenly fell down and hit his bubble. The bubble popped loudly, leaving Morph covered with soot. "Oh, not again," said Morph, 4 seconds before he fell down to the ground.

Sonya and Smoldron paused as they heard something falling and something squealing. "What was that?" asked Smoldron. "Oh, that's just Morph," said Sonya. "Shouldn't we catch him?" asked Smoldron.

"No need," said Sonya, "If he doesn't remember he can turn into something with wings, the fall won't harm him at all." A little while later, they heard a 'splat' and Morph's voice called, "I'm okay."

Smoldron stared for a minute and said, "Okay…" "Don't worry about it," said Sonya, "I lived among aliens for years and even I think that's weird." Smoldron nodded slowly and said, "Well, as long as there's some normality in all this." "Cling to the normality when you can," said Sonya, "It doesn't come by every day."

"Yes, dear," said Smoldron. Then he and Sonya turned back to the business at hand: planning their mating ceremony. Sonya may be stuck in the form of an ice dragoness, but every human woman wants to plan their wedding down to the finest detail. "I still wonder if we've got too much mutton being served," said Sonya, "Maybe we should provide some salmon for variety's sake."

"Yes, yes, that would be fine," said Smoldron, he had stopped paying attention to Sonya's outloud thinking several minutes ago. His gaze drifted around the room until he noticed a cardboard box that looked rather unfamiliar. "Sonya, what is this?" asked Smoldron, walking over to the box.

Sonya looked at it and said, "Oh, well, those are my old possession, before I came here." "I don't recall this ever being here before?" asked Smoldron. "Well, it's sorta recently arrived," said Sonya, "The last time Matt's crew was here, before they left after Malefor's defeat at Banshee Base, I asked NegaMorph to try and claim my old possessions. Apparently, it wasn't easy due to me being declared dead. He had to hunt through several NSC colonies and I understand that both theft and pricy bargaining was required."

Smoldron sniffed at the box and said, "May I see them?"

Sonya thought for a few seconds before saying, "Might as well. If you're going to be my mate, you might as well know."

Sonya walked over to a small pile of things. The first was a old semi-rusted helmet. Negamorph had found it in Dante's Freezer, presumably it had come off when Avarona had first taken over. The next picture was of a family standing in front of a colony building.

Smoldron looked at the picture and asked, "Was that your family?" "Yeah. Mum and Dad. We were farmers on a frontier colony near the badland sectors." said Sonya. "After raiders started hitting those places, Dad saved up and sent me to train as Disperse international at Central Station. Said he wanted his little girl to be able to look after herself should anything happen."

Smoldron looked at the picture again and said, "I'm not that great an expert on human matters, but I have a feeling they'd be proud of how you turned out." "Yeah...I'm sure they would be...Dads apparently in the colony militia there." said Sonya. She picked up the picture carefully and put it away.

Then Smoldron spotted some kind of recorder. "What's this?" he asked, poking at it. The device burst into life and a type of picture appeared. A person was standing in front. "Good morning...the search was called off today for the USS Maelstrom Star which has been missing for the last month in Badland sector 6..." Smoldron jumped as the screen jumped forward. "...among the lost is Lt Sonya Adams, one of the heroes responsible for the destruction of the Ganadas Raider force."

"Its not your fault..." said Sonya sadly. The final image had a different date in the corner. "...the USS Maelstrom Star was found today after 3 months on the missing list. One survivor was located, Sergeant Matthew Lynch. He is currently facing charges of negligence regarding the loss of the rest of the crew and Captain Neilsson has pushed for further research into the reason Mr Lynch gave. However Sonya adams parents have openly defended the Sergeant who claim that his story that she died defending the rest of the crew could not be false. However..." the comm cut off at that. Smoldron turned to see Sonya sniffing sadly. "See? They were proud of you." he said, putting a wing over her shoulder.

"I guess so," said Sonya, "It's just hard to think that I'll never see them again." "Well, at least they raised you," said Smoldron, "I never knew mine." Sonya nodded, smiling weakly. "Yeah...least we've got each other." Smoldron and rubbed his neck against hers and said, "We'll always have each other."

Elsewhere, Spyro and Cynder were flying over the fields outside Warfang. The moonlight provided more than enough illumination for them to see. "Brings back old memories, doesn't it?" said Cynder. "Yeah, back when we thought Malefor was gone for good the first time," said Spyro, "It sure was nice to be able to have some time alone to ourselves. Unlike these days."

"Don't worry, Spyro," said Cynder, "We'll have that chance again. If we could defeat Malefor twice now, we can do it again for good." "What makes you say that?" asked Spyro. "Because you're the one that inspired me to defeat him the first time," said Cynder, "I would have never been able to defeat him without you." "Nor I you," said Spyro.

Flame and Ember's evening was set somewhere somewhat less romantic. Flame was still healing so he was staying in the hospital wing of the BladeStorm. The good news was that he was currently more organic than techno and getting better all the time. Flame was lying on a hospital bed while Ember was standing right beside him.

"I'm sorry our day didn't go out as you hoped," said Flame. "It wasn't your fault," said Ember, "It was all Red's fault." "Yeah, how could I have been so foolish to join up with him before?" groaned Flame.

"Don't blame yourself," said Ember, "Red was to blame for all of it. Everyone else has forgiven, why can't you forgive yourself?"

"Because I was such a fool," said Flame, "I'm still a fool." "Yes, but you're my fool," said Ember, nuzzling Flame. "Uh, won't you get infected?" said Flame. "You're healing now so those nanite things shouldn't be spreading," said Ember, "Anyways, I don't care."

**A mixed ending…flame is saved but Red is back and nastier then ever and with a few new…tricks. Join us next time.**


	6. Dead drakes tell no tales

**Spyro, Cynder, and all other Spyro related characters are property of Sierra studios. **

**Draco, Contrinus, Chip and Cydra are property of my co-author, Cydra. **

**Matt, his merc team, the NSC and related tech, the ancients/atlanteans and malefors dragon generals are mine.**

**CPS Chronicles**

**Soulless Abyss**

**Chapter 6: Dead drakes tell no tales**

_Personal Log of Capt M, J Lynch_

_Man, its been a while since I last used this...well...from my perspective. All I can add to my last entry is that life has got...interesting. Malefor's heartless are laying low and Red's dropped off the edge of the world...hopefully literally. I don't wanna bump into him again anytime soon. Anyhow...There is one more problem that needs attention..._

NSC ships were built to withstand intense firepower from enemy starships. Seeing as how Matt's ships have been attacked with lasers, missiles, and energy beams, it was almost an insult to be fired upon with cannonballs.

And it wasn;t just the bladestorm's compliment of Starfuries being used. Chloe and the other crew had been told what the pirates had done when Matt, Spyro and Cynder had been 'guests' of the pirates and as such had sent in everything from infantry to scorpion tanks.

Matt jumped as two starfuries blew the ports gate to splinters. "Does 'overkill' ring a bell?" he said weakly to Draco. "Look who's talking," retorted Draco. "I mean...it was years ago by this worlds clock...and the guy responsibles dead...I should know...I was there." said Matt, watching as two of the tanks rolled through the new hole, firing their coaxial guns as they went.

"Well do you want to tell Chloe to lay off?" asked Draco. "Oh, hell no." said Matt with a hint of terror. The machinegun and explosive fire had stopped for now and the radio crackled as the teams reported that the remaining pirates had legged it as far as they could.

"You feel sorry for the mangy mutts?" asked Draco. "Not really...but there is such a thing as fair..." said Matt. A trooper talking on his teams channel commented "Hey guys...we hit the motherload...there must be several million creds in jewels in this ship." Matt and Draco looked at each other. "...On the other hand we should be paid for our work..." said Matt innocently.

"Dragons are known for hoarding treasure," pointed out Draco. "Its our...duty to check to see that the jewels are safe and to...confiscate...any...un...safe items." said Matt, as if reading from a script.

"Just take the treasure and stop lying to yourselves about it," said NegaMorph, who was passing by. Matt and Draco looked at each other before realising the first person would get first picks. Negamorph smirked to himself as he heard the two start to fight to get there first. "Sometimes this job shows off the perks." he said to himself.

Chip passed by Matt and Draco struggling to get to the treasure hold first. "I hate to burst your bubble, but there's another pirate ship coming up," he said. Matt stopped trying to knot Draco's necks up and Draco stopped trying to freeze Matt's foot off. "They're attacking US?" Matt said, almost amused.

"So they're thinking," said Chip, "I think they want the treasure back. Shall we blow their engines out?" Matt put a hand over the radio. "Nah...lets have some fun..." he said.

Captain Lugclaw was furious. He'd heard that the newcomer humans had been hitting supply ports for the last week but this time he'd show em what a pirate could do.

Lugclaw marched in front of his men and said, "Alright boys, we'll show them what real pirates are. We'll board them, we'll cut their throats, we'll have their guts, we'll butcher them, then we'll throw them in the drink, the whole lot of them." The pirates cheered and several threw their daggers against the mainmast. Lugclaw nodded and said, "Same old drill, boys. Wait till I give the word, then board em!"

A few pirates who could see the huge form of the Bladestorm were not so sure, given how big its cannons were. They could also see several shapes flying towards them from it. "Erm...captain?" said the lookout, nervously.

Suddenly, Matt, Draco, and NegaMorph swept down onto the ship. "C'mon, let's board them!" shouted Matt. "Did you say board us?" asked Lugclaw confusedly. Matt landed and then punched the captain down the stairs into the hold.

The other pirates looked in confusion before they got a good look at Negamorph. "DEMON!" they yelled and turned to either run or charge at Negamorph. For the ones that ran, they ended up in the clutches of Chloe and the ones that charged Negamorph...well...it was a good show of darwinism in action. Lugclaw staggered back up the steps to see his crew more or less being bounced around the deck.

"Did you say 'board us'?" he asked in a dazed voice. Matt was leaning against the wall in human form. "More or less...oh...du...ooh too late." he said as a thrown pirate sent Lugclaw back down the stairs.

One of the pirates was running away from Chloe when he heard a voice in front of him said, "I'll be right with you." The pirate looked ahead to see NegaMorph slapping another pirate silly. The pirate immediately backpedalled and scurried up the mast to the yard arm. He panted for breath until he noticed NegaMorph sitting beside him. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting," said NegaMorph.

The pirate yelped and tried to run only to fall down to the deck with an 'oof'. "My turn." said Matt happily. The pirate saw Matt and shrieked. "ITS DRACONUS!" and tried to run, only to hit Lugclaw and send the poor captain down into the hold for the third time.

Draco and Chloe were playing volleyball, using one of the smaller pirates as the ball. "You know, we really ought to wrap this up," said Chloe as she batted the small pirate to Draco. Draco caught the pirate and froze him in an ice ball before rolling him towards ten other pirates. The ice ball knocked them all down. "Ok," said Draco, "But there's still one pirate up there."

He pointed up to the crow's nest where the lookout was cowering. Matt pulled out his ion staff. "He's mine...I haven't had any fun." he said and started slicing bits off the mast, gradually lowering it.

The lookout cowered at the bottom of the crow's nest until it was resting on the deck. Chloe peered in, showing all her fangs in a toothy grin. "Hello, little guy," she said. The lookout looked from the teeth of chloe's dragon form to the same look from Matt who had turned dragon as well before fainting dead away.

"Ok, I've had my fun," said Matt, "Time to scuttle this tugboat." Matt turned back to human and pulled a grenade out his wrist comps storage system before strolling into what he thought was the engine room before stopping. "Draco? You remember what the Ohana's engine looked like?" he said.

"Don't look at me, I don't know a boat engine from a car engine," said Draco. "Well...just have a look here." said Matt casually. Draco and Chloe looked in to see a very large and modern looking engine hooked up. "Now that...that's a bit out of badger boys level of expertise." said Matt, pointing.

"Well, those guys are scavengers," said Chloe. "Yeah...thing is...that looks factory fresh." said Matt. Their comm crackled. "That's not all, guys...we found something interesting in the port. You'd better get back here." said Techo's voice.

Back at Warfang, Ex-Captain Lugclaw and his not-so-merry crew were being marched into the dragons' prison. "Well, we got to emasculate a shipload of pirates," said NegaMorph, "I say this was a pretty good day."

"Mhm...and we stole one of their ships. Maybe we can work out where their camp is from the logs?" said Matt. Techo came in "...and we can find out how they got these?" he said, showing a scroll and what looked like a jade crystal. "An atlantean data crystal...Morgan confirmed it when I called him. He also says this was a scroll that should have been in the archive." he said.

"That's weird," said NegaMorph, "That's like finding a priceless painting hanging on the wall of a mole's den. The moles here are blind, aren't they?" "More or less." said Matt, looking at the crystal. "This is interesting..." he said. Morgan had taught him some atlantean in his stay and this said the words 'Osiris shipyards' on the side. "This is some kinda data log..." he said before clicking it into his wrist comp. Rows of atlantean runes appeared. "These are shipping records, orders...hmm...'special project'?" said Matt.

"Personally, I'm more worried about what's on the scroll," said Techo, "I can't read a word of it, but I bet it's bad news. Not to mention the runes are similar to what the Chronicler uses in his scrolls."

Matt and Chloe exchanged a glance. "Oh great...pirates, heartless, cyborg nutcases and now something that worried even the chronicler...this planet has all the best fun." said Matt, sarcastically.

The scroll was immediately brought to the Elders. Hopefully, they'd be able to read the ancient script and tell them what it told. The eldars obviously did not like what it said judging from their grim expressions. Zara looked at Matt. "Where did you find this?" she said in her usual 'you are something on the bottom of my foot' tone of voice.

"Believe it or not, it was among a pirate's treasure hold," said Matt, "Is it really important?" Zara made a snorting noise of disbelief as Terrador said "This is an old prophecy...back when the atlanteans and our people had just met...when they were at war."

"Is it still of relevance or has it already come to pass?" asked Chip. "Oh, it still has yet to fulfil," said Cyril, "It says 'When the reign of utter darkness is nigh, the purple dragon, aided by beings from beyond the stars, shall step through the maw of shadow and seal it forever'..."

"So? That don't sound too bad..." began Techo as Cyril finished "...sacrificing themselves to save the many." Techo stopped mid sentence then said "Oh, bugger." "Still a lot cheerier than some of the prophecies I've heard," said Draco. "Name one..." said Matt darkly.

Draco thought for a moment and said, "What about that one regarding the Dark Dragon?" "That doesn't count. Nobody died." said Matt sulkily. Chloe however said. "Its probably nothing...the HQF are a week away and the heartless are busy hiding." Techo then earned a small award for good timing. "Why not see if the pirates have any more pages of that scroll? Look, the last few lines are missing."

"Even if the scroll were kept in good condition, which is doubtful, those pirates are less likely to show us their treasure hold than Zara," said NegaMorph. Zara glared before Matt said "Oh, come on...the pirates make morph look like genius of the year...a brick could infiltrate them and we have one of their ships."

"Oh sure, the pirates are just going to let a bunch of humans and aliens waltz in and browse through their ill-gotten collection," said Chip sarcastically, "They're not military tacticians, but they aren't that trusting."

"I managed to infiltrate them despite having two destroyer droids as escort." said Matt simply. Chip glared and muttered something in tantalog about being a smartarse. "And as I recall, it ended with your capture and being forced to fight against Raptor," said Terrador.

Matt blinked and turned to the smirking group. "Smegheads." he said and walked out when Chloe burst pout laughing. "Yeah...I can imagine that happening." she said. Techo said "If they're as dumb as Matt says, they probably wouldn't even blink if we turned up in their ship...and I can disguise our gear real easy."

"Yeah, but they'd probably see who we really are in a heartbeat," said Chip. "That, dear Chip, is why we will practice the age-old art of disguise," said NegaMorph. Chloe added "...and my brother will play no part in the disguises" which seemed to cause a lot of tension with the plan evaporate.

Techo added "We'll need something to convince em to let us dock though...prisoners? Fake ones of course..." "Oh no, you don't," growled Zara, "The last time you had Spyro and Cynder involved-" "Yes, that is true," said Volteer, "But unlike the previous occasion, Matt's abscense in the formating of this plan will make it more guaranteed to end with a favorable result."

There was a distant 'I heard that' but the gang ignored it. "Unlike my brother, my plans work." she said.

Spyro and Cynder were not as convinced. The last plan was still fresh in their minds. "Don't worry about it," said Chloe, "Malefor isn't a factor in this at all. And even if the pirates cotton on to us, what's the worst that can happen to you compared with Malefor?"

"We could end up back in the arena." said Cynder. Techo shrugged "So? We'll have the bladestorm blow a hole in their roof and you can fly out again. No biggy." Spyro and Cynder thought for a moment and Cynder said, "Was this Matt's idea?" "No," said Chris. "I'm good with it," said Cynder. "Me too," said Spyro.

Matt who had been there looked crestfallen. "Not all my plans go pear shaped." he said and blasted Negamorph when he said "Yes, they do."

Matt's mood had not improved with the disguise he was wearing. "I feel like an extra from pirates of the Caribbean." he said gloomily. "Oh don't be such a party pooper," said Chip, "I've been looking for an occasion for wearing this bicorn hat."

"Oh, shut it, you tin can." said Matt sulking. His disguise at least looked like it belonged on a mercenary...albeit one from the 1800's. Spyro and Cynder's disguise wasn't much better, someone having had the idea a eyepatch suited Cynder.

"I don't even know why we have to wear a disguise," said Cynder, "We're going to be the captives, we don't need to dress as pirates. Plus this eyepatch makes me keep walking into things." "Zara said no captives...said with Matt on the crew that it's tempting fate." said Techo.

"Like anyone is ever going to believe that there are pirate dragons," said Spyro. "Well...you'd be surprised." said Matt. Techo said "I got a look at the engine...no way those idiots put it together...and someone must have put together the mecha-scorpions you encountered the first time."

"Yes, and I doubt that they commissioned them from the moles," said NegaMorph. "Of course not, they kidnapped a bunch and-" Matt paused when he looked at NegaMorph. "How comes you're not wearing a disguise?" he asked. "This is my disguise," said NegaMorph, "I'm making my coat look leather instead of cloth. And you have not noticed how my fedora's now a tricorn."

Matt looked at him. "It really does not suit you." he said simply. Lao came up on deck. Given the track record of any plan the gang had ever implimented he had insisted on coming as a medic. "I went over the course...this area is well known for disappearances...but also appears to be the destination."

"Oh goody, we're heading for Avalar's version of the Bermuda Triangle," said Matt. Matt sighed. "It could be worse...it could be Malefor's lair." he said as the fog ahead began to clear a bit.

As the fog cleared, they could see tall thin spires stretching before them. On the top of each tower was a rod that flashed every few seconds. "Wow..." said Techo simply as the rest watched the rest of the fog cleared.

A large irregular oval shape could be seen, covered on more of the spires as well as squat buildings, small tunnels leading into the interior from which pirate ships emerged and sitting on top of the main structure, what could only be described as a half-finished ship that had probably sat there since the atlanteans had first been chased from avalar.

"Uh, what's our current altitude?" asked Chip. "1000 feet. No wonder the dragon council never found this place." said Techo, after checking. Closer, the gang could see items the pirates had added, most notably cannons and berths for their bat steeds.

"So their hideout is on a mountaintop?" asked Draco. "Nope...I don't think that's a mountain...look down." said Techo, pointing down. Draco looked down to see that the rock suddenly cut off just before entering the clouds.

"A floating island," remarked Chip, "That certainly explains a lot. Of course, most of the land below is mostly floating islands now." Another pirate ship, probably a small gunboat was coming alongside. "Uh oh. Here's the welcome wagon." said Matt, worriedly.

"Ok, everyone be cool," said Techo, "We're all blackhearted buckaneers coming to port and..." Techo spotted Morph who was wearing a vest, a sash, curly-toed shoes, and a turban, all in the Arabian style. "Except for him...he's an exchange student." finished Techo lamely.

"Morph, how could you possibly screwed up 'dress-as-a-pirate'?" said NegaMorph, "Everyone knows what they dressed like. They don't live in deserts!" "Remember who you are talking too." said Matt out the corner of his mouth. The pirate gunship was now in view and the people in view were definitely not badgers.

The crew was largely made up of wolves, snarly bad tempered-looking wolves with plenty of battle scars. Chloe however was looking at the island. "Draco? Call me old fashioned but isn't it a bit unusual to aim defence towers at each other?" she said in a conversational tone. The wolves were waving for the ship to come within hailing range.

"Now remember, don't do anything that could blow our cover," said Matt. "Oh don't worry," said NegaMorph, "I'll leave that up to you, strangling crewmates probably isn't that uncommon among pirates." Matt glared and proved Negamorphs point. The wolves then were quite impressed as the unusual alien began kicking the crap out of a fellow crewmember, though the insane laugh made them a bit nervous.

"Think that's the captain?" asked one of the wolves. "Course not. He's probably the crew's loony. The dragons are the captains."

"Two captains?" said the first wolf. The second shrugged. "Probably mates." before wincing as the 'loony' twisted his victim into what could only be described as 'painful'.

"Hey...you'd better keep your bezerker on a leach...we don't want him interrupting the workers." yelled one of the wolves at Spyro. "Right then," said Chip. He walked over to Matt, who was forcing NegaMorph's head into his own butt, and held up a spray bottle. He squirted Matt in the face a few times and said, "Bad Matt, drop him."

Matt turned and hit Chip in the head with the closest thing at hand...which was Negamorph before realising he had an audience of amused wolf pirates. "Erm...avast?" he said. "Odd fella, isn't he?" said one of the wolves. "Hate to have him against me in a bar fight," said another.

Matt almost snapped again at this, yelling "I'll bite your arm off and hit you with it..." until Chloe and Techo jumped on him and pulled him out of sight. "Wonder where they picked him up?" said one of the wolves. "Wherever it is, I hope they're not out of stock," said the other.

The captain of the gun ship turned to Spyro. "You're late anyhow...the meets starts in 30 minutes." he said, adding rudely "...and you're heading for our entrance...use your own." pointing to another hatch higher up in the side.

"Well... that went well," said Draco. Matt managed to pull himself up. "I thought I was gonna be the captain." he wailed. Chloe sighed "Just be glad we're not being shot at...guess its not just badgers who are pirates." she said.

"I'm just glad our disguises worked," said Techo, "No thanks to Morph." "They had a sale on Arabia stuff and some pirates were from the Sahara too!" snapped Morph. Negamorph sighed before noticing one of their 'crew' was missing. "Hey...where's Megan?" he said.

"Still below deck," said Chris, pointing at the hatch. NegaMorph walked over and tapped on it. "Megan, are you still down there?" he called. "I'm not coming out!" came Megan's voice.

Matt had wandered down too. "Oh come on...the disguise can't be that bad. There were female pirates...some of the most bloodthirsty marauders in Nullspace are female." he called through the door.

"Really? Like who?" demanded Megan. "Darzinia...300 Mill bounty...and we charge a extra 400 mill to make sure she stays dead." said Matt promptly. "C'mon, Megan, you're among friends, no one's going to laugh at you. And if the pirates do, we'll show them a new place to bury their treasure," said NegaMorph. "With interest." added Matt, cheerfully.

"Oh, alright, but no laughing." The door opened and Megan stepped out. She was dressed up as a typical 18th century cabin's boy, complete with bandana. However, one part of her outfit that stood out was the corset that was squeezing her torso into a more appealing but less comfortable shape.

Matt's face went poker standard and he was obviously biting his tongue to prevent him laughing, helped along as he was trying to 'accidentally' stamp on his own foot. NegaMorph eyed the corset suspiciously and said, "I thought Chloe was going to be wearing that."

Chloe said sweetly. "I never knew you had a death wish, Negamorph." apparently to herself. Negamorph gulped and said "On second thoughts...it wouldn't have suited her." "I don't get it, what's the big deal?" asked Spyro. "It's a human thing." said Techo, who had a similar poker face to Matt.

"Well, we need to blend in so we can take a look at their treasury," said Chip, "So nobody show any unusual powers." "...ok..." said Matt innocently. The other merc members all suddenly looked innocent as they probably had about 12 different concealed weapons on them...each.

"And don't forget, pirates have few rules and they rarely play by them," said NegaMorph. The mercs all suddenly grinned as basically, in many cases, neither did they.

A little while later, the gang was docking 'their' ship inside the harbour. The docking bay was much larger than they had anticipated. Several ships were moored there and the crews from various ones were walking around the bay. Matt immediately noticed that there was a large variety of species here.

Surprisingly, contrary to the gangs expectations, none of the different species of pirates were trying to kill the others. Matt spotted avians, reptilians, more of the wolves, badger pirates and he was sure he spotted a dragon walking deeper into the facility. He then saw the reason for the peace.

A mechanical spider whirred and clicked at him from an alcove before skittering away. "Ok, there's no way they could make their own spiderbots," said Chip, "They have got to be getting their tech from somewhere else."

"They look different...our spiderbots aren't made from crystal." said Matt. The group walked down the gangplank, following Cynder and Spyro. Several of the pirates on the dock glared and gripped various weapons of choice but a skittering noise from various alcoves and hiding places made them look around nervously.

"Why do I get the feeling that these spiderbots don't have the wacky sense of humor that ours have?" said NegaMorph. "Cause I doubt they do..." said Matt. Chloe said to Spyro. "Guess the badgers you met were the exception. This is pretty..." she began and stopped as they left the dock area and got a good look at the scene in the next area. "...peaceful." she finished weakly.

Apparently someone had been questioning the freshness of someone else's fish and had started a large fish fight. Trouts, tunas, mackerals, and salmon were being tossed everywhere by edgy pirates.

"I like this place." said Matt with a grin, side-stepping a dagger that hit the wall between spyro's horns before pulling out his pulse pistol and shooting a pirate in the butt. The other pirates paused to look at him before carrying on the fight.

"They certainly know how to stave of boredom," commented NegaMorph before catching a swordfish before its snout could impale his head. He then grabbed a nearby pirate and slapped his face a few times with the swordfish before shoving its tail down his throat and booting him into another group of pirates.

Chloe, Spyro, Megan and Cynder watched as the other members of their band started to join in the fight. "You know...this is actually going well." said Chloe weakly, absently pulling the dagger out the wall.

"Don't you think that this is a little dangerous?" asked Spyro. "Spyro, you're a purple dragon. If they really threaten your life, you can zap them with lightning or something," said Cynder.

A second and third dagger both shot out and missed them. Chloe took them too. "This reminds me of the last Mercenary company alliance chrismas party." she said, pulling the jewel off one of the dagger hilts and throwing the dagger back, bringing an 'OW...WHAT IN THE ELDARS?" from the group fighting.

"So what do we do now?" asked Spyro. "Wanna go check out a bar?" asked Megan. Chloe said "You're too young...erm...you dunno what they drink here." she said lamely. "I think I saw some of the others go into that one," said Cynder, indicating a pub called 'The Rusty Dagger'.

Chloe turned in time to see the three others wander into the pub. "No...Contrinus? Little help." she said, running after the trio. Contrinus quickly flew besides Chloe. She was eager to get away from the fish fight as some of the pirates had been trying to pluck off her feathers.

Chloe and Contrinus reached the door in time for it to burst open and a pirate fall backwards with a cutlass in it. "Oh boy...definitely not 5 stars." said Chloe, stepping over the pirate and going in. There was another fight going on in here as well as singing. "MEGAN ROPH!" yelled Chloe, spotting the aforementioned person looking at a half-filled mug of whatever the singing pirates were drinking.

Megan turned and gave Chloe a goofy grin. "Hey Chloe, thisssss ssstuff tastes pretty *hic* good after the first three gulpth," she said in a slurred voice. Chloe stared at the mug and took it from the unresisting megan before sniffing it. "ACK...this stuffs worse then kr'ta...wait...THIS IS KR'TA!" she said, before glaring at Spyro and Cynder.

"Well, Matt did give some of it to us," said Spyro. "We thought it would be safer than whatever they're serving here," said Cynder. Chloe said "He did tell you no other lifeform can drink it safely right?" Megan proved the point as she burped up a fireball and clutched her throat.

"Well, she's part NegaMorph, she should be able to take it, right?" asked Spyro. "Don't be shuch a wet blanket," said Megan, "I'm, I'm just fine." Just then, her right ear grew black and pointed before splitting into two.

The others stared. "That answer your question? Lets get her outta here before Negamorph arrives." Chloe said. A second later Negamorph DID arrive...via the window, flying across the room and landing in an open rum barrel, followed closely by Morph.

"Oh, look, it's Uncle," said Megan pointing with her right hand as jaws grew from her wrists and her hand turned dark grey. Chloe pushed Megan out of sight and a second later the barrel exploded outwards as Negamorph burst free. However something was amiss with his expression.

NegaMorph's head was practically split in half by his wide grin and both he and Morph were singing, "For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow..." Chloe, Spyro and Cynder stared. "Ok...now I know how my brother feels." said Chloe.

Then NegaMorph noticed Chloe and said, "Hey, Silvia, how comes you never take me clubbing? *hic*" Chloe glared but Negamorph's self preservation had been shut down by the wonderful world of alcohol. "I am NOT Silvia." she snarled and winced. A avian pirate had just pinched her on the bum. "How bout we go somewhere, matey?" slurred the about to be very unlucky pirate.

Spyro and Cynder, sensing what was about to happen, covered their heads with their wings. As an afterthough, Cynder also wrapped Megan up inside her wing. "Awww... I wanna seeeeee it," moaned the half-human teenager. Contrinus also dived for cover behind the bar.

Outside, Matt was bouncing a pirate on his head via the ankles when a lightning bolt blew the entire front off the rusty dagger and a blackened pirate staggered out of the hole and fell forward. All the pirates stopped and stared at the charred front of the pub. "Hey, I got a buddy who owes me some drinks in there," said one of the badger pirates.

Techo and Draco exchanged a glance. "Someone made a pass at Chloe." said Matt. The group watched as Chloe peered out the bars new 'window' with a smug look.

"Well, that takes care of that lout," said Chloe dusting her hands off. "Yeah, way to show him," said Morph, "What'd he do?" "I don't know..." said NegaMorph. Suddenly, one of Morph's eyestalks fell off and landed on the floor in a puddle. Morph and NegaMorph stared at each other for a second before they started laughing their heads off.

Matt looked at Draco and Techo. "No more alcohol for those guys...and someone pick up Morphs eye." said Matt. "Oh, don't be such a party pooper," said NegaMorph just before one of his left hands melted off. "Oh look, there goes my hand. Ha, ha, ha..." Three seconds later, NegaMorph's lower jaw slid off.

Matt grinned. "Hey Draco. I think Nega needs to 'pull himself together'. Hahah...ARGH!" said Matt, cut off as Chloe zapped him. "Hey, we're melting into puddles, whee!" said Morph's entire head as it slid off his shoulders and down into the growing puddle of white and black slime on the floor. "Ah, dammit. Is there a bucket in the house?" said Techo.

"I didn't know they could do that," said Megan. Matt looked at Megan. About half of her face was changing to Lady NegaMorph and most of her limbs were transformed as well with her clothing being a hodgepodge of the two forms. Matt sighed, before gently turning her to a window to show her reflection. "It runs in the family." he said.

"Hey, that's really weird..." said Megan before leaning forward against the wall. "Better get her out before we got more explaining to do that we need," said Techo. Chloe glanced at Morph and NegaMorph, who were basically just giggling puddles of slime at this point. "And can we get a mop over here?" she asked. Matt looked around. "I think we lost our audience when Negamorph melted." he said.

Elsewhere, in a darkened cavern, Malefor was laying still, his eyes closed in concentration. After a minute his eyes opened. "Very good." he said and jumped a bit as Darkans said "What is good?" Malefor spun to see that Darkans had assumed a human form...the only thing betraying his true species being the eyes...which were pure black.

Malefor raised an eyebrow. "I thought you hated humans," he said. "Their forms have their uses..." said Darkans in a clipped tone. "What have you found out?" he added in an irritated voice.

"One of my...agents is currently inside the pirates' hideout," said Malefor, "Apparently, there is a scroll among their treasure that tells of a prophecy regarding the purple dragon and the dark ones." "Hmm...we have no uses for prophecies...but we cannot have these humans using the information...I will inform my superiors. You will take a force to their location...kill everything alive and burn it to ashes." said Darkans.

"Very well," agreed Malefor, "I've been wanting to unleash the new Heartless anyways." "Let us hope you command them better this time round otherwise I will be forced to find someone more competent." said Darkans, cruelly. Malefor growled slightly and muttered, "I'm as compotent as you'll ever find."

The next morning was a lot more peaceful on account of Morph. It's not so much of what he was doing but what he wasn't doing. His drinking last night left him with a monumental hangover which even an unplugged brain could not help. NegaMorph was in no better condition and would groan at the slightest noise.

"All clan members to the pirate lord chamber...NO EXCEPTIONS!" yelled a pirate on a speaking trumpet in the square outside the inn they had slept the night in. "Negamorph...no shooting the messenger." whispered Matt, pulling Negamorphs fang hand down.

"Shuuuuuuut uuuuuuuup..." groaned NegaMorph. Megan had been the most fortunate of the three. She wasn't suffering from any headaches. Of course, that was because she was currently in an unwaking sleep. The group left her sleeping anf followed the other pirates into a large chamber.

As they were looking for seats, they notice a large lizard-like pirate shouting at a smaller and flimsier lizard who didn't seem like the privateering type. "The new engine didn't work, ya idiot." yelled the pirate, backhanding the smaller lizard and pulling out a blade before a shot knocked it away. "Hey...leave it." said Matt, holding the smoking gun.

The big lizard snarled and said, "None of your business, you bald monkey!" "I know...I just hate cold blooded cowardly scumbags, thats all." said Matt in a casual voice. Chloe said "Easy...look...my bro's had a hard day. We don't wanna start anything."

"Eh, I knew the hairless ape would back down, all talk, no bite," said the big lizard. Matt shrugged and looked at Chloe. "I think those be fighting words from the walking handbag." he said.

Chloe rolled her eyes and said, "Must you pick a fight with every-" "You taking orders from a wench, that's pathetic," said the pirate. "Ok, go ahead," said Chloe. The pirate lizard pushed his previous victim roughly aside as Matt pulled out his ion blade. "Call that a sword? THIS is a sword." said the pirate, pulling out a sword that was closer to a chainsaw before flourishing it at Matt. "Oh...this is a gun." said Matt, drawing and shooting the pirate in the kneecap,

The lizard cried out and clutched his bleeding kneecap. "Hey, we're pirates, remember?" said Matt. Matt turned and helped the smaller lizard up. "Hi there..." he said cheerfully before hearing a cry. He turned to see the pirate lunging at him before an lightning blast from up high hit the lizard in the back hard enough to vaporise him. "That is enough...save it for the arena." said a voice.

Matt looked up to see an electricity dragoness. She would have been quite lovely if she weren't covered with tattoos, battle scars, and jewel studs all over her body. Very clearly, she was the battle-hardened, no-nonsense type.

"Erm...live long and prosper?" said Matt and was zapped. the dragoness said "Where is your captain?" Matt's eyes were crossed "They're off to see the wizard of oz...can I take a message?" he said dizzily.

"Uh, technically, that would be him," said Chloe, pointing at Matt, "He's just... having a short circuit right now." The electricity dragoness took one look at Matt before saying, "Seriously, where is your captain?" Techo prodded Cynder forward with his foot.

The electricity dragoness peered closely at Cynder and said, "Do I know you?" Cynder gulped. "No...I don;t think so." she said. Usually she would not be afraid of this dragoness but usually a small army would not be there to back the opponent up all at once. "Erm...I'm Captain...Silvia." she said, remembering the name Negamorph had called Chloe.

Chloe was about to say her name was not Silvia out of habit, she bit her tongue at the last second. The dragoness stared suspiciously at Cynder and said, "I don't recall having a 'Captain Silvia' among our ranks." Chloe said quickly "She's new."

The dragoness's suspicion did not ebb any, but she had more important things to attend to. "Don't start any fights, we've got more important things to do than bust some rebel-rousers' heads." She then turned around and flew off.

The lizard that Matt had saved however walked up to Chloe and said "You know...a wierd hat does not make a pirate. I gotta get back to work." before heading off. "We better keep a lower profile," said Chloe. "Relax," said Matt, "As if anyone will know who we really- QUICK! GET DOWN!" Before giving any more warning, Matt pushed the others out of sight.

Several other pirates, obviosuly more pirate leaders had come in, standing at several small balcony's but that wasn't what had caused Matt to push everyone down. It was the two parrots that had landed at the empty balcony that had caused him too. "What is it?" said Chloe trying to get back up as Matt peered at the parrots. "Its Mr T's parrot." said Matt darkly.

Chloe gave Matt an incredulous look. "You're joking, right?" she said. "I've never been so serious." said Matt. Spyro peered up to see them. "I thought we'd seen the last of those two." He said.

"Those two don't look like any kind of threat," said Techo. "Yeah, they look more like owls than parrots," said Chris. "They were the brains behind the pirate that locked us up." said Cynder. Matt added "Literally...Skabb made morph look like chip."

"You're kidding, those two featherdusters were the leaders of those pirates you fought?" said Chip. "Yup...had a whole fleet..." said Matt, saying the last bit smugly. "So, why are we ducking out of sight again?" asked Draco. "Cause when we parted from their company...My ship blew away their fleet and we kinda dropped Skabb down 10 floors...and then Sparx punched the purple one, sniff." said Matt.

"No way, Sparx?" said Contrinus. "Yup." said Spyro. "Good right hook too." added Matt, before listening. Scratch was saying. "Since the arena ship was destroyed 3 years ago, we have not been able to hold a arena tournament." There were criers of anger from the crowds as well as threats of what would be done to whoever was responsible. Matt and Spyro shrunk down a little more out of sight at hearing them.

"But we ain't outta business," said Sniff, "We're holding the tournament right here." There was a cheer then and Spyro and Matt slowly stood up. "I think we might be off the hook." said Matt cheerfully and stopped as Scratch said "...The lords will choose their nominated captains who will take part alongside their crews...the winning lord will be our leader for the year...with our guidance of course." The pirates all turned as Matt yelled 'GODDAMN IT!"

"Looks like some sucka's volunteering," said Sniff. "No I'm not...bugger off." replied Matt before Chloe 'accidentally' pushed him over. Then the electricity dragoness named Teslia spoke, "I think I'll volunteer Captain Silvia's crew. I'd like to see what this newcomer can do."

Cynder gulped and Matt said "What happens if we can't take part?" Scratch said "You and your crew are fed into the furnace." Matt gulped "Just asking." The reptilian pirate lord, Cylus pointed to the lizard pirate Matt had shot a few minutes ago. "I nominate Captain Vorkan." Matt gulped as Vorkan turned to glare at him and do a throat slitting mime. The avian lord, Sanido pointed to a hawk pirate "I nominate Captain Garuda."

Scratch and Sniff remained quiet during the pirate lords' nominations, but their single pair of eyes never left 'Captain Silvia'. The wolf pirate lord, Skyfang, pointed to a pirate called 'Captain Luponic'. Scratch grinned as the last selection was given. "Now we've chosen everyone we can begin..." He turned to look at Cynder and co. "...to the death."

After the other pirates had left, Scratch and Sniff, and their new 'boss' were left alone. "Damn...those foo's were bad enough the first time...now there's more of them." said Scratch, in an annoyed voice. "Patience, Scratch," said Sniff, "They wouldn't dare do anything to us. Not so long as we'll be able to reveal who they are."

Their new figurehead was sadly more intelligent then Skabb had been, this one actually capable of limited speech. "Vat 'reveal meanink?" he asked in a deep voice. "Never you mind," said Sniff, "You don't have to think about it at all." "Yeah, we be doin' all the thinkin' here," said Scratch. "Yaa, okay...Vat 'thinkink' meanink?" asked the pirate after a minutes pause.

"Takes a bit too much from old Skabb, doesn't he?" muttered Scratch. "Which is precisely why he's the ideal captain to run: he'll do anything we tell him to do," said Sniff. The pirate, called Clunker, nodded with a dumb grin before looking puzzled. "Who you guyz?" he asked, causing the two parrots to faceplant.

Scratch glared at Clunker and said "Quiet foo. Sniff...we can't have those guys runnin around." "Not to worry," said Scratch, "After all, so many combatants die during the tournament." Sniff smirked and there was a coughing noise from Clunker, signifying a new thought had turned up. They turned to look expectantly. "What the plan again?" causing the parrots to faceplant again.

The next morning the gang with Captain 'Silvia' had been told to report to the rusty dagger. "Unusual place for a game." said Matt. "We are NOT taking the plasmoids along," said Chloe. Techo grinned. "Don't worry...someone accidentally welded their door shut last night...dunno who it coulda been." he said innocently. Chloe nodded "Good man, I mean...oh dear, they'll miss the game."

The group headed to the Rusty Dagger, which was still repairing from the hole Chloe blew through its wall. The pirates doing the job took one look at Chloe and ran for it except for one who nervously opened the door for her. "It's good to get respect," said Chloe smugly.

"Looks like bare faced fear to me." said Matt. "Same thing." said Chloe as they walked in. There were several tables set up. The pirate lords and the captains they'd nominated were present. "You're late," growled the electricity dragoness. "Sorry, Captain, er..." said Cynder. Teslia snorted before saying. "This is a simple contest to start...last one standing wins. Choose one of your crew to represent you." she said.

He gulped. He'd seen star wars but he was confident that vorkans representative didn't have a blaster under the table. He did jump however when a pint glass was dumped in front of him and Vorkans. "Last one standing wins for their faction." said Sniff who was perched with Scratch on the shoulders of a badger pirate who looked brain dead.

"What? A drinking contest? That's all? Piece of cake," said Matt, genuinely sounding excited and relieved. His relief faded when a drop landed on the wood of the table and ate through it. "Oh boy..." he said and started drinking.

An hour later, and Scratch and Sniff were silently amazed. "I thought you said that stuff we found in the ruins would work?" said Scratch. "It should have," said Sniff, "It was said to act as an acid to the systems of all the weakest creatures." "Damn." said Scratch as Matt started on his 12th mug, looking a bit distant-eyed and sniggering at things...like the wall.

"How long could they go at it?" asked Draco. "Well, by my calculations," said Chip, "They should be dead." Matt grinned faintly, matching the faint grin on his opponent, alcohol having allowed to them to forget they were supposed to get each other. "Hey duuuudey...try a bit." said Matt, offering the last dregs of his drink to his opponent. Teslia said "Can they do that?"

"Well, bottoms up, *hic*, buddy," said the other pirate before downing Matt's drink. Suddenly, his face froze in a grimace and he fell over. "Yay...I win...I want the car." said Matt, before getting a funny look before burping a blue tinged fireball across the room, hitting Scratch, Sniff and their 'perch'. Clunker grinned. "Yaa. Dat vas good trick...do again pleaze." he said clapping.

The two parrots just stared at Matt. "Me thinks we underestimated our opponent's nature," said Sniff as he put out a flame on Scratch's head like a candle. "Lets...not use that again." said Scratch, coughing out a smoke ring before falling backwards off Clunkers shoulder.

"We have a winner," said Teslia smugly. "Yay...I want the car..." said Matt, before taking a deep breath to start singing. That's when his friends all dogpiled on top of him.

Teslia looked at Cynder/Silvia as Matt was dragged off with a pint mug stuffed in his mouth. "Ok...why?" she said dully. "Trust me, that's one guy you don't want to hear a sailing song from," said Chloe. Teslia sighed. "I think we can safely declare my clan the winner." she said, glaring at Scratch and Sniff.

"Yes, I suppose this victory is yours," said Sniff. "But it's only the first, foo," said Scratch, "Ya gotta do a lot more to get the crown." Matt had been left at the ship until the Kr'ta wore off...in a sound proofed room. However the next one was worrying. The gang watched as two of the other clan representatives did what looked like a normal duel...except it wasn't with pistols.

"Uh, aren't cannons kind of ungainly?" asked Chris. "I can improve our chances." said Techo, smirking. "I'm pretty sure using radioactive materials is a bad idea," said Chloe. "Its not always radioactive...just because there's still a glow behind Jumba's ship..." said Techo, sulkily. "No warheads," said Chloe sternly.

"Fine...how long till our turn?" said Techo. "We're next." said Cynder. "No problem." said Techo.

Scratch and Sniff had done an upgrade of their own to the cannon for the dragon clan, along the line of plugging the cannon muzzle. "At least we'll get rid of one of them." said Sniff. "I can't wait to see that foo get blown to bits," said Scratch.

Clunker chuckled. "Wierd guy go boom?" he said as Techo and the badger pirate clan representaative wheeled their cannons onto the field. "Hey...is that the cannon we gave him?" said Sniff, confused.

Chris looked at Techo's 'improvements'. "Why is a food mixer attached to it?" he said slowly. "Erm, it's technical," said Techo. "You're not supposed to modify your cannon." Sniff called out, common sense supplying to the parrot that something bad would happen if the human fired it.

"What was that?" called Techo who was already lighting the fuse. "The dragon clan forfeits this contest for illegal modification..." called Sniff. Techo glared. "Git." he called back and extinguished the fuse...or at least tried too. "Uh oh." he said in a small voice and tried to put it out again.

"Hit the deck!" yelled Contrinus as she dived for cover. Everyone did except for Clunker who was about 5 minutes behind everyone else and as a result, Scratch and Sniff. The cannon fired so loud the windows shattered. A minute later, everyone got up to see a large hole through 5 walls...and through the holes... "THATS OUR SHIP!" wailed Sniff, looking at the ship that Techo's ammo had hit and subsequently blown to pieces.

"Er, my bad?" said Techo before getting hit by Chloe. "I TOLD YOU NO WARHEADS!" she shouted. "S'not a warhead...its a anti-tank round." said Techo sulkily.

A little while later, the next fight was about to begin. "This competition is for captains only," called Sniff, "All competing captains should prepare to fight." Matt and the Morphs had been let out. It sadly turned out that Matt had been locked in with the morphs...it also turned out Matt's singing was very sobering as was confirmed by the bruises he now had...probably the first time Morph was ever violent.

"Well, I better go on out there now," said Cynder. "No, you've done enough already," said Spyro, "I'll handle this one." "They said captains." said Matt. A avian pirate said. "Usually the captains take their first officers in too." before noticing their gazes. "What? I read the rules."

"Uh, do I qualify as a first officer?" asked Matt. "No...you're the on board idiot." said the Pirate and was knocked flying by a twin blast of plasma and lightning. Negamorph said "We're supposed to be in the dragon pirate clan...why not Spyro?"

"He does have more experience fighting in the arena," said Cynder. "And I don't?" said Matt. The group all went silent remembering the 'fun' they had experienced the last time. ""Yeah...but I think its the wrong type of experience." said Chris. "It's, uh, a dragon's honor thing," said Chloe, "and you're not all dragon." Matt glared. "I have to go get an urge to explode things out my system..." he said, walking off. "Well, I better get out there then," said Spyro.

The two dragons walked down into the arena. The sight was not comforting, given the large amount of craters.

Scratch and Sniff looked at the small reptile pirate. "I assume this will deal with the dragons as well as the others?" said Sniff. "Absolutely," said the pirate, "There's not a creature of this world that stands a chance against it." "Except for Clunker...I assume you modified it correctly?" said Sniff. "Yes, it'll go easy on him," said the pirate.

The three looked down to see Spyro and Cynder walking into the arena. "Oh, this'll be good." said Scratch evilly.

Spyro and Cynder looked at the craters before seeing a hatch opening at the opposite end. "This ought to be a tough one," said Cynder. "Isn't it always?" said Spyro. A large machine walked out. It had a normal looking torso with four legs. It had several cannons on its shoulders and its left arm had a nozzle with a pilot light at the end and the other ended in five nasty looking claws that were spinning.

"Well, they've been certainly working on upgrading their robots," said Cynder. The machine turned to look at them, before aiming its left arm and firing a blast of flames at them.

The two of them narrowly dodged the flames. "That's a definite improvement," said Spyro. The machine then aimed a slash with its spinning claw arm, slashing a hole in the wall between the dragons. "Definately improved it." said Spyro. The robot then aimed its cannons and started firing several missiles at Spyro and Cynder.

On the stands, Chloe was watching in minor horror. "How did you beat these things last time?" she said. Matt said "Spiderbot." Chloe looked at Negamorph. "Well...we can improvise...Negamorph?" "I'm not sure if I can get a good shot from here," said NegaMorph. "Who said anything about shooting?" said Chloe, kicking Negamorph into the arena.

Spyro and Cynder glanced sideways as NegaMorph landed in the arena, face-first. "Ow," he said. The machine turned to look at Negamorph before making a few motions with its slasher arm. Negamorph said "Hah...is that the best you've...oh." he said as he fell into cubes.

"Double ow," said NegaMorph. Matt smirked at Chloe. "Well...it distracted the robot." she said innocently. "Ok, we should probably try to find its weak points," said Spyro. A cannon blew a hole in the wall before Spyro spat a ice blast at the machine, freezing its left shoulder cannon.

However, the cannons simply fired through the ice, shattering them. The machine seemed smug before aiming a slash at Cynder, barely missing her. Matt winced as Cynder barely dodged it before hearing a growling. "Chloe?" he said, looking at Chloe who shrugged before they looked to see Teslia looking furious.

"Um, is there a problem, ma'am?" asked Matt, moving several feet away from her. "That was being made for me...bloody parrots." snarled Teslia. "Yeah, don't you hate it when people rip you off?" said Matt, getting even further away from Teslia. "If it wasn't against the code to vaporise other lords subjects I'd be having roast parrot." said Teslia, angrily.

Chloe thought for a moment and said, "So, you wouldn't mind getting back at them, would you?" "I would rip them apart if I could." said Teslia, practically foaming at the mouth. "Then what would be the best way to defeat that robot?" asked Chloe. "There's a weakpoint at the nape of the neck...I had it added just in case it threw a screw or two." said Teslia.

"Good to know," said Chloe. Matt ran to the edge. "Shoot it in the back of the...wow." he said as a cannon shot fired from Clunker hit him.

Scratch and Sniff were impressed...right up until Clunker said "Sorvy...mine bad." he said waving in a friendly way and the semi-concussed Matt. "DON'T APOLOGIZE, YOU DUNDERHEAD!" yelled Sniff. "Shoot him for reals, foo," said Scratch.

"But dat nasty." said Clunker. Scratch face planted and Sniff said "We could have just taken over personally but nooo...we had to have a figurehead pirate again." "No one takes parrots seriously," said Scratch.

Spyro and Cynder dodged another blast from the bot. "What did Matt say?" said Cynder, sending a shadow blast at the bot to little effect. "I think he said 'Aim for the back'," said Spyro. The two dragons took off to swoop round the bot, sending several blasts at it. this time it had a partial effect, causing the bot st stagger before its torso spun round to fire another fire blast at them.

"We need to split up," said Spyro, "I'll distract it from the front while you get its back." Cynder flew behind the bot while Spyro landed in front of the bot. "Hey, tin can." he taunted. The bot turned to stare at him, before aiming its cannons.

Spyro had to keep moving about to avoid being hit by any of the robot's missiles. Cynder swooped down and latched onto the back, sticking her claws into the bots back and ripping a panel off to find a red gem powering it.

"Huh, this won't be hard," said Cynder as she smashed at the crystal. The bot shuddered but didn't stop until Spyro used a earth flail to smash it in the chest.

Then the robot fell onto its knees before cracks started covering its body. A few clicks later and the whole thing fell apart. Scratch and Sniff might have taken that had Clunker not said "Bravo...dat vas beink very good fight." "No it wasn't, foo," said Scratch, "We just lost!" "Yay...ve are lozers." said Clunker Clapping his hands together...which was sadly where Scratch was hovering to chastise Clunker.

Sniff winced and said, "It looks like, once again, I have to do everything." "Yeah...foo." rasped Scratch from the floor.

NegaMorph slowly put himself together and got back up. "Did we win?" he asked. Pirate lord Saniko stood up and she said "Teslia's champions win this..." and was interrupted as Scratch and Sniff flew in. "Stop everything...Teslia's representatives are fakes." said Sniff, landing on the seat balcony.

"What are you talking about?" demanded Saniko. Scratch pointed at Matt. "That foo's the one who wasted Skabb with those two dragons." he accused. "Do you have any proof of this?" demanded Teslia. Scratch glared. "Of course...we were there...we watched that...human talk his way aboard Lord Skabbs ship."

"A parrot's word doesn't make good evidence," said Teslia. "What? How dare you...?" began Sniff and yelped as Teslia snapped her jaws close enough to ruffle Sniff's feathers. Skyfang just snorted and said, "You're just saying that because you lost." "What?" said Sniff, in shock. Cyrus added "It's just the sort of thing you two would try...talk about a bad loser." he said.

"We are tellin' the truth, you foo's!" snapped Scratch, "Those two dragon punks down there are Spyro and Cynder!" "Oh please. The purple Dragon and terror of the skies have better things to do then chase us." said Teslia, in a taunting voice. "It's true," said Sniff, "Don't you recognize them?" "Please...we've known for years about you two and 'Skabb'. It's only because you brought treasure into our alliance that we left you alone...that and Skabb was amusing." said Skyfang.

The two parrots were besides themselves with anger and indignity. "Now go away...your 'lord' is drooling." said Teslia, pointing to where Clunker had a vacant expression. "Oh, you gonna get it now, foos," said Scratch, "We ain't gonna play no more." "You will deeply regret this indiginity," said Sniff before they flew off. "Oh, shut up." yelled Cyrus, throwing a dagger that parted Scratches tail feathers.

A little later, the gang was celebrating their victory, though Megan, Morph, NegaMorph, and Matt were kept far away from the liquor. "Ok...the 'reward' is tomorrow. We have a good sift through to find any data crystals and then get out of here before someone has second thoughts about the parrots evidence." said Techo, sniffing suspiciously at a glass of rum.

"I wouldn't worry about that," said Chris, "Those guys don't look like the kind that would be taken seriously on anything." "How do we know that for sure?" said Techo darkly. "Would you take a parrot seriously on anything?" said Chris. "We're not pirates..." said Chloe.

Just then, there came a knock on the door. Chloe opened it to see one of Teslia's crew. "Lord Teslia wishes to see you," he said. Cynder stepped forward and the dragon pirate said "All of you."

"Aw, but I haven't got any punch yet," said Morph. "I would not keep Lord Teslia waiting if I was you." said the pirate darkly, adding. "Follow me."

Meanwhile, several arrowhead shaped fighters were flying towards the pirate fortress. They had all assumed human forms but were wearing strangely organic full cover body armour. "Lord Malefor. We approach the stronghold..." said the leader.

"Excellent," said Malefor, "Make sure they don't notice us until it's far too late." "There is no need for concern...there will be no witnesses." said the leader. Malefor smiled and said, "I haven't had this kind of fun in ages."

Meanwhile, The gang had followed the pirate into what looked like the main treasure room. "We're getting our reward early?" said Matt, before a lightning bolt hit him with enough strength to get past even his own earned immunity and knock him out. Several dozen dragons with Teslia came out of hiding.

"Er, is there a problem?" asked Chloe. "Yes there is. Miss Cynder. Please tell your friends to stand down. I'd hate for my men to need an excuse to kill them." said Teslia, with a smirk.

Cynder stiffened and said, "So, did you know all along or did you need the chicken brothers to point it out?" Chris chuckled and said, "Chicken brothers, I need to remember that one."

Teslia said "It wasn't too hard. Every dragon knows you and the purple dragon. A eyepatch does not make a pirate. I played along because I needed to beat those parrots challenges. I am now Pirate queen...unfortunately I can't let you simply leave." She said with a chuckle.

"Uh, surely there's a civilized way to settle this," said Techo. "Not really...we are pirates after all...though I might spare Spyro..." she said with a faint smile before a dull boom was heard and the floor trembled.

"Um, was that a good thing or a bad thing?" asked Megan. A faint horn like sound began to repeat and the pirates looked around. "What did you do?" snarled Teslia, readying a lightning bolt before there was a screaming. Several of the base spiderbots had jumped on one of the dragon pirates and were stabbing him.

"I think this is our cue to run for it," said Chloe, picking up Matt. Teslia roared and blasted several spiderbots as the group fled. As they headed for the docks they could see more victims of the now rampaging spiderbots, some with spiderbots still on top of them, glaring. Others as they got closer had what looked like wounds from weapon fire.

"Ok, definitely not the same kind of spiderbots we have," said Chip. Cynder checked round a corner before walking round it. As a result she saw the armoured figure march around the far corner and look at her.

Spyro and Chris ran round the corner to see Cynder, apparently frozen in terror before the mysterious trooper. "Uh, Cynder, this is no time to be shellshocked," said Chris.

"There it is...get it." was a yell behind them. Chris and Spyro turned to see a dozen pirates running into view. The creature calmly raised to aim its wrists and a storm of black orbs shot out, cutting down the pirates before looking at the crew. The mercs all opened fire on the creatures, sending up a storm of sparks as the bullets bounced off.

"Ok, definitely not your run-of-the-mill raid," said Matt. "Shoot the bastard." Chloe yelled, sending a blast of lightning that was harmlessly absorbed by the armour followed by more bullets. Techo managed to aim one of the positron rifles and fired. This time there was a shower of sparks and the trooper flew back onto his back, apparently dead.

"Oh great, not more Heartless," moaned Chloe. "Heartless with super armour...what fun." said Matt as the body dissolved. Spyro ran over to Cynder who had fallen over when the warrior had been cut down.

"Cynder, Cynder, are you alright?" asked Spyro, shaking Cynder. Cynder snapped out of it and said. "Of course I'm fine." a bit sharply before saying. "Urgh...my head." "Take it easy," said Spyro, "Just try to recover." "Uh, this place is gonna come down around our ears," said NegaMorph, "I don't think 'taking it easy' is an option here."

The group ran for it, eventually reaching the docks where the crew left with their ship were fighting against a mix of the spiderbots and pirates who had tried to take the ship for themselves.

"Ugh, you can't trust the valets for anything," said Matt. "Uh oh." said Chris, pointing to two of the new warriors walking out of corridors and firing on everything in sight. "Don't worry, I think I know how to get rid of these guys," whispered Chip to Draco. Then speaking loudly, he said, "Oh dear, I think they're going to scratch the ship's paint job."

Matt twitched at this. "What...DIEEEEEE!" he yelled, pulling out his ion blade and charging one of the troopers, only to be sent flying by a backhand. "Ok, didn't expect that," said Chip. The trooper turned and started firing at the experiments. The experiments dodged to avoid being hit. "Looks like we need a new battle tactic," said Draco.

The trooper managed to get in among the experiments, picking up Draco by the throat and aiming its wrist weapon to his head. "You will surrender the crystal or this primitive perishes." it said in a hissing voice.

"Let go of my mate!" snapped Contrinus before her feathers started shining brightly. As the trooper turned to look, Contrinus suddenly burst into solar flames. The trooper calmly raised his blaster to aim before a blast of flame evaporated his head. The trooper stood there for a few seconds before falling down.

"Um, thanks for that," said Draco, rubbing his neck, "Uh, if you wouldn't mind using it on the other-" Contrinus turned to glare at the other trooper and sent a fireball they weaved safely past the fighting crew members to burn a hole through the troopers chest before splitting up into smaller fireballs and shooting through the various pirates.

The pirates quickly scattered when they felt their backsides being lit on fire. "Go...lets go." yelled Matt. The group ran onto the ship and Matt just sliced the ropes through. "Lets get outta here." he yelled. The ship sailed out and they saw how the fortress was on fire...with a major difference...the half built atlantean ship was pulling away. "I hope that isn't be piloted by someone who'd hold a big grudge against us," said Matt.

Aboard the ship, Teslia looked in wonder as the burning fortress got smaller and the clouds gave way to inky black dotted with stars. "I take it there's a reason you saved me and my crew." she said, turning to Scratch, Sniff and the vacant grin of Clunker.

"Well, to be frank, our crew lacks the... initiative that yours does," said Sniff. "In other words...you need crew that have functioning brains." said Teslia amused. "Well...that is one way to put it..." said Sniff. "Well...here is another. I am not some badger you bump off because he learnt that that vegetable..." she said, nodding towards Clunker "...is just a figurehead...and if you try...I will eat you...ok?" She leaned forward and said "I am in charge of this little field trip." "Er, right, of course, ma'am," said Sniff.

Teslia smiled coldly. She had won a much bigger prize then simple rule.

The gang soon returned to Warfang, but in less than cheerful spirits. "I can't believe we went through all that for nothing," said Chloe. "I didn't even got to see their treasure hold," moaned NegaMorph.

Matt glared "FOR THE LAST TIME...oh forget it." he said, gloomily. Lao actually looked smug. "I would not say the mission was a complete failure." he said, reaching into his armours chest pocket and pulling out a small green quartz crystal. "How did you get that?" demanded NegaMorph. "I saw it on a pile of treasure in the hold." said Lao smugly.

"And you got there how?" inquired Chip. "I... really found it in negamorphs things when he came aboard...along with...this...this...this...oh, and this." said Lao, pulling out various expensive looking jewelry.

"Uh, I never saw those before," said NegaMorph shiftily. "Yeah...right...Morph...on;t turn into fibber...you'll get a sore throat from over-buzzing." said Chloe.

Contrinus gave NegaMorph a suspicious look and said, "You wouldn't have taken anything else from the treasure hold, have you?" "Uh, no, of course not, I'm above the want for material wealth," said NegaMorph.

Chloe sighed and turned dragon before picking Negamorph up by the tail and shaking him from side to side. Many pieces of gold, silver, jewels, goblets, bracelets, rings, crowns, and other valuable items started falling out from NegaMorph's coat, creating a rather sizeable pile on the floor. "Ok...did you leave ANYTHING?" said Matt.

"Um, well, I didn't have a chance to look at the armoury," said NegaMorph. Matt was about to yell at Negamorph when he realised the treasure was probably double the amount that his credits had been beforehand. "Well done." he said with a grin.

"What are the chances of those pirates coming to reclaim their treasure?" asked Megan. "Would it matter if they did?" said Matt.

**The gang have recovered the data crystal...but why did the dark ones want it destroyed? Find out next time.**


	7. Walking on Eggshells

**Draco, Contrinus, Chip and Cydra are property of my co-author, Cydra. **

**Matt, his merc team, the NSC and related tech, the ancients/atlanteans and malefors dragon generals are mine.**

**CPS Chronicles**

**Soulless Abyss**

**Chapter 7: Walking on Eggshells**

The whole thing started rather unexpectedly, as such events commonly do, one evening in Warfang. It had been a week since the adventure at the pirate stronghold and Techo was still decoding the data crystal they had recovered.

Matt and Chloe had been walking down the street, looking for something to eat when two female dragons barrelled past them.

Matt and Chloe exchanged a glance. "Don't look at me...this is new to me too." said Matt, raising his hands in mock surrender. "Is there some sort of monster attacking?" asked Chloe. Matt looked around. "A monster that can make dragons run for the hills would be pretty big...I see no Godzilla." he said.

Just then, Matt got a call on his comm. "Hey Lynch," said NegaMorph, "The girl dragons are going nuts around here. It's like some boy band came into town or something." "Hell if I know. This never happened all the times I was here." said Matt, before being knocked over by another dragon. "OI...WATCH IT!" he yelled.

The ice dragoness paused, turned around, and froze Matt on the spot. "Ok, maybe I should have been nicer," said Matt. Chloe peered down a side street to see more dragonesses running around. "Why is it only the girls running around like its doomsday?" she said. "Maybe we should check on Sonya," said Matt.

The two headed for Sonya and Smoldron's quarters. The two had gone through the bonding ceremony a few days earlier, the Avalarian equivalent of a marriage. Matt knocked on the door. "Sonya? Smoldron? You ok? Somethings going down out here." he said.

There wasn't any response so Matt knocked louder. "Sonya, are you-" he started. "GO AWAY!" snapped Sonya's voice. Matt jumped back at that. "Erm...you sure, you're ok?" said Matt, before jumping again as a ice blast froze the door shut.

"Ok, something's up," said Chloe. They heard a moan behind them and turned to see Megan, clutching her head. Matt walked up to her. "Did draco dare you to try some Kr'ta? You look like you have a hangover." he said.

"It's not that," said Megan, "With the lust that's in the air, it's overloading me and giving me a major headache." Matt and Chloe's faces suddenly set as their brains got a good idea what...activities Sonya was up too. "I'm suddenly glad she kept us out." said Matt weakly.

"It's not just them, like every couple in Warfang," said Megan. "Oh my lord." said Matt simply. "I vote we hide order everyone back aboard the nighthawk before someone walks in on something that breaks their brain." he said.

"Like you haven't done anything like this," said Chloe before smacking Matt on the head. Matt just glared before muttering something in splitter.

After spending the rest of the day in sub-orbit, the gang returned to Warfang the next morning. Fortunately, the lust levels have dropped back down to normal. The city seemed back to normal as well. "I'd better go tell Zara an enormous whopper of a lie to explain why we went into orbit." said Matt, gloomily.

Matt and Chloe wandered up to the temple to find the four eldars waiting. Matt also noticed that Zara looked like she had been crying. "Greetings." said Matt, bowing formally. He had a feeling that this was a time for manners.

"I see that you've spent the night away from Warfang," said Terrador, "A reasonable choice, considering what last night was." "Yeah...what happened last night?" said Chloe.

"Well, we dragons have a mating season, one month every year where our females are most fertile and can lay eggs," said Cyril, "And once every 8 years, there's a full moon on a night within the mating season. When that occurs, all the females who have mated will go into a frenzy where they will seek their mates and coopulate. This is the one night they're completely guaranteed to produce an egg."

Matt twitched a bit at this as Chloe said "And if they can't?" she said faintly. "Then they still lay an egg, one that will never hatch," said Zara sadly. Chloe and Matt were silent at this. Now it was more obvious why Eldar Zara looked so depressed. Matt took off his hat. "I'm sorry to hear that." he said.

"My mate has been dead for several years," said Zara sadly, "It is a hard burden to bear." Matt and Chloe fell silent at this. "So...the eggs...I'm guessing you put them...somewhere." said Matt awkwardly.

"Yes, the unhatchable eggs contain very powerful magic," said Terrador, "If they were to fall into wrong hands, it could be catastrophic. Which is why they shall be locked away in the Cave of Stillborn Dreams."

"Cheery name." said Matt, gloomily. Eldar Zara protested "We cannot risk the eggs on such a journey...not while those dark creatures roam the planet." Matt siad automatically "We could take them." before his brain stopped his mouth.

"Excellent idea," said Cyril. Chloe, however, glared at Matt and mouthed, "I will kill you." Matt said "Sure...how hard can it be...mmmph!" He said before Chloe gagged him.

Spyro and Cynder were not delighted about the prospect of their mission. Since they were too young to be mated, Cynder didn't go through the same frenzy as the other females. "We just have to drop the eggs off at this cave. Hell, I pity anyone who take a shot at us." said Matt.

"I'd rather not go to this cave," said Cynder, shuddering, "I've heard it's haunted by the dragons that weren't born." Matt looked confused at this. "Its haunted by people who haven't existed? Ow." he said as Chloe stomped on his foot. "So how many eggs are there, anyways?" asked Draco. "4...Including Eldar Zara's so please let nothing go wrong." said Matt.

"You mean like Morph eating one?" asked Chip. Chloe blinked "Why would you say...MORPH, TAKE THAT OUT OF YOUR MOUTH!" she shrieked. Morph, who had half an egg stuffed in his mouth, mumbled, "Buh ine humgay." (translation: But I'm hungry')

Matt ran over and pulled the egg out before using plasma control to squash Morph flat. "NO EATING THE CARGO!" he yelled, bashing Morph on the floor with each word. Chloe watched as Matt began to continue to squish Morph and laugh a bit insanely. "And my brothers mood...where's the blowpipe?"

"Ok, does anyone here know how to drive a wagon?" asked Matt. "You can fly a battleship and a tank but not a wagon?" said Draco, trying not to grin. "Tanks aren't pulled by living creatures," said Matt, pointing at the ox that was supposed to be harnessed to the wagon.

"Speaking of eggs, look what we've got here," said Contrinus pointing. The group turned to see Sonya and Smoldron walking towards them. Sonya had a satchel tied to her neck while Smoldron was walking like his knees were weak and he had a big grin frozen on his face.

Matt said "Smoldron you old dog, erm...dragon." he said before noticing that smoldron seemed to be a bit glassy eyed. "Smoldron...you ok?" he said, tapping him on the head.

"Let me handle this," said Chloe. She rubbed her hands together and put them on his horns. "Clear," she said before sending an electric current through his horns. Smoldron yelped as the shock went down his back, making his tail shoot out rigid. "GYAH..." he said. Matt said "Smoldron? Are you back now?"

Smoldron shook his head and said, "I feel rather lightheaded." "Yeah, that's normal," said Matt. Chloe however had wandered over to Sonya. "So...that eggs..." she began. Sonya smiled "Yes...it is." she said.

"Congratulations, you two," said Contrinus. She turned to Draco and said, "That give you any ideas?" "Uh..." Draco looked around frantically before saying, "I, er, better get that ox hitched up." Chloe, Sonya and Contrinus all said "Wuss." "Ooh, can I be the godfather?" asked Morph. "No, you cannot because you could not be trusted with a chicken egg," said Chip.

Sonya said "Actually...we've already got two in mind." "Let me guess, Spyro and Cynder?" asked Matt. Smoldron shook his head. "Nope. Actually we had someone else in mind." Chloe seemed interested, turning and asking "Oh? Who?" "Well, we would be honored if you two would be the godparents," said Sonya.

Matt and Chloe stared. Matt made a funny noise before falling backwards. Chloe however handled it better. "Oh, erm...we'd...we'd be honoured...OH FOR HEAVENS SAKE...Someone kick Matt." "Ooh, I'll do it!" called NegaMorph, running over. Chloe gulped "No...he's supposed to be able to wake up afterwards." "Ah, not even one below the belt?" asked NegaMorph. Chloe glared, pointed her finger at Negamorph and fried him with electrical bolt.

"Ow..." moaned NegaMorph before falling down next to Matt. Matt woke up with an 'oof' and pushed Negamorph off. "Hey there...I had the wierd dream...I dreamt that Sonya n Smoldron had laid an egg...just like that one and had asked me n Chloe to be godparents..." he said in a dazed voice.

"Should we tell him now or will he just spaz out again?" asked Techo. "Ah, lets tell him...get it over with." said Chloe. "Tell me what?" asked Matt. "It wasn't a dream, it really happened, blah, blah, blah, can we get moving now?" asked Chris. Matt made a 'heh heh' and fell backwards again.

Chloe rolled her eyes and said, "He'll probably accept it about the tenth time we tell him. Now let's get these eggs rolling before they go bad." "Actually, dragon eggshells are completely hermetically sealed and since there's no embryo inside, these eggs won't spoil so long as their shells aren't cracked," said Chip. The others gave Chip an odd look. "I've read it in the library," explained Chip. "Just keep Morph away." whispered Chloe.

Some time later, the eggs were finally loaded into a straw-filled wagon which was then covered with a blanket. "Now remember," said Matt, "The key to this mission is low-key. Don't do anything that will attract attention at all." "So why are you coming along?" asked NegaMorph.

Matt glared at Negamorph and dived at him. Chloe sidestepped the fighting duo and said to Cynder. "Didn't Malefor ever send you after the cave? Seems to me that if these things are so powerful, they could have made all the difference in his little war." she said.

"I can't quite remember," said Cynder, "But I think I recall something about Malefor have some scruples regarding the cave." Chloe raised an eyebrow. "That creep having morals? Thats not very believable." she said. "I know, but it's the only reason I can think of," said Spyro.

"Well...at least that scratches one danger off the list." said Chloe, confidently, before looking at the map that Volteer had provided. "Its a shame we can't just take the ship but there's nowhere to land. It's a good 2 day walk from here." she said. "Not to mention a ship would stand out like a beacon on this planet," said Chip.

That night the group had set up camp at the foot of the mountain range that their destination was located in. Everyone had finally settled down for the night. Suddenly, Cynder's eyes shot open, their colour an eerie solid yellow before she walked down to the small nearby pond where the group had gotten their water.

She touched the surface of the water with her claw and it instatly smoothed out, revealing a completely different reflection. Malefor's reflection was in its place. "What news, my dear?" he said.

"Master, they are taking the unhatchable eggs to the Cave of Stillborn Dreams," said Cynder. Malefor sighed "I see...this information may be useful." he said.

In Malefor's lair, Darkans appeared just as Malefor was about to disregard the information. Despite everything, his respect for the cave still stood. "I trust you will act on this information." he said, startling the dragon. "I...rather not," said Malefor, "The Cave of Stillborn Dreams is not to be disturbed."

"I'm sorry...did I phrase that as a QUESTION?" said Darkans, sending a wave of pain into Malefor as he yelled the last word. Malefor winced and said, "As you...command."

"Very good. Four Vorn warriors will accompany you to make sure...and Malefor? I think miss Cynder should have permanent residence here now...see to it when you see her." said Darkans, four of the armoured warriors that had attacked the pirate fortress appearing beside Malefor.

Malefor watched as Darkans vanished. "What am I doing?" he thought.

Spyro had been walking around before he stopped to yawn. He was having a bit of difficulty falling asleep, probably because of the tension of the mission ahead. He once heard that humans counted sheep to help fall asleep, but doing that only made him hungry. Apparently, he wasn't the only one with sleeping problems as he spotted a sleeping Cynder standing by the pond.

She looked like she was sleepwalking again, like she had at her old tower. "Cynder?" he said, walking up to her. Cynder jerked before looking around. "Wha? Spyro?" she said, confused. "You were sleepwalking again," said Spyro.

Cynder yawned. "I thought I was past that after we went to my old tower." she said in a tired voice. She turned to take a drink and jerked back. She briefly thought she saw Malefor on the pond's surface, but when she looked again, it was just her reflection. "I must not be fully awake," she told herself.

Spyro said kindly "Lets go back to the camp and get some sleep."

The next morning, the gang set off again. The mountain had apparently once also been defended by the ancients during their first stay, the path having several half-collapsed buildings next to it. "Kinda reminds ya of those western movies where the travelling pioneers have to pass through a ghost town, doesn't it?" said Draco.

"Yeah...the scene where the bandits attack the caravan...guys, lets keep it attentive." said Matt, waving to the marines that had tagged along with the group. "It does kinda catches the age-old tradition of western fiction, coupling it with the peace, tranquility, and majesty of the great out- WILL YOU KNOCK IT OFF?" said Chip, snapping at Morph who had been humming "Dum dee dum-dum, dum dee dum-dum, dum dee dum-dum..." for some length now.

There was a rattling from a ridge above them, a higher part of the path that ran parallel to them. A few stones fell down. "Ok...now I'm worried." said Matt, looking around. Something was making him feel uneasy, very uneasy.

"I wonder if they have mountain goats up here," said Draco. "I don't think so," said Chip, "If there were, they'd be on a different type of mountain than this." Mat gulped "I've been here a year...no goats..." he said. Chloe said "Last time I felt like this was when those armoured guys were running a amok on the pirate fortress." she said. Suddenly a hail of bolts hit one of the marines from the ridge, shrouding him in white smoke and throwing him aside, stone dead. The group looked up to see three of the armoured warriors standing on the ridge, firing a storm of bolts at the group.

"Ambush!" called Matt, "Protect the cargo! And I don't mean eat it!" "Rats," muttered Morph. The group dived for cover, firing their rifles. The warriors armour however seemed to be made of sturdy stuff, as even the armour piercing rounds the gang used on empire droids bounced off harmlessly. Another marine fell screaming as a bolt hit him first in the arm before a second hit him in the chest. Another warrior staggered from a fireball from Spyro before firing at the dragon.

Chip had also been firing at the warriors, but either their armor was invulnerable to his attacks or they had very strong anti-virus programs. Then a thought occured to Chip. The warriors may not be damageable, but their surroundings were. He then took one of the machine gun-like blasters and started firing at the cliff the warriors were standing on.

The cliff gave way, sending one of the warriors down with several tons of boulders. The others looked at each other and calmly lowered their wrist guns before walking off, shimmering into nothing as they went. Matt walked up to the pile of rocks before a blast nearly blew his head off. The warrior pulled himself out, pulling off its damaged helmet to reveal a human-like face with black eyes.

"Ok, now that's creepy," said Matt. The warrior glared. "Inferiors." it said in a hollow voice before a bang was heard and its head whipped back. Chloe had a rail-pistol drawn. "No armour...no protection." she said as the body seemed to dissolve into black mist.

"Was that a Heartless?" asked Contrinus. "If it was, I've never seen one like it." said Matt, looking at the now empty armour and slotting one of the blasters on before trying it to no effect. "For a start, they're clever enough to make sure we can't use their guns." he said.

Chip examined the armor and said, "This looks like the same thing as those other warriors wore when they attacked the pirate base." Matt nodded. "Of all the times to leave the positron rifles at home." he muttered.

Meanwhile, the two warriors that had retreated were reporting to Malefor. "Sir, we have failed our objective," said one of them. "And they have managed to eliminate our comrade," said the other.

Malefor silently was pleased. The eldars who had begun the egg tradition had placed some interesting locks on the cave. The fourth warrior had found this out briefly before being evaporated. "I see you also failed to capture Cynder...you will go back and capture them...take your flying machine if you must." he said , coldly.

Malefor watched them go. He had suggested that path for the ambush in the hope that the humans annoying resourcefulness might have reactivated some of the weapons there. Now they would hopefully shoot down the dark one 'dart' fighter and he would have to return to Darkans.

"There's a good chance that I will pay dearly for this," muttered Malefor to himself before glancing at the cave. The energy barrier blocking it resembled a semi-visible lightning cloud, a pile of ash where the warrior it had killed visible on the ground in it. There was a mechanical wailing and Malefor turned to see the arrow-head shaped fighter lift off and head down the mountain range.

"Well, hopefully they'll just bring back Cynder," said Malefor, "Proper minions are so hard to replace."

Back down the mountain, the ruins had vanished, giving way to traces of the pre-Malefor dragon civilization. Cynder looked around. "You know, I kinda got a feeling of deja vu," said Cynder. Spyro looked around. "Didn't Malefor ever try to have you raid here, given the power stored here?" he said.

"I think I once suggested it," said Cynder, "But Malefor turned it down, forbid it even." Matt was walking along just behind them. "We're talking about the same Malefor...right? Same guy who twisted you and tried to do the same to Smoldron?" he said.

"I know, I keep trying to ask myself why he wouldn't want to raid the cave, but I can't think of anything plausable," said Cynder. "Well...least the git had some standards then." muttered Matt.

Chloe however was talking to Negamorph, who was looking at the symbol on the dark one warrior helmet. "It's probably a coincidence," said Chloe, "Those symbols could have opposite meanings for all we know." "We don't know how much preparation the emperor did before you and me were...recruited." said Negamorph, gloomily before throwing the helmet over the side of the path in anger.

"But Virustoxico made you out of cloned experiment DNA and Soul Shades, I don't see what those would have to do with Heartless," said Chloe. "Who knows?" said Negamorph, kicking a pebble over the side. He stopped in confusion as there was a clunk over the side.

"Uh, this mountain's made out of rock, right?" asked NegaMorph. Chloe was about to answer before there was a deafening mechanical wail and a ship seemingly made from purple metal hovered into view before shooting over their heads. "Ha! Missed us!" called Morph.

The ship turned on a dime and shot back, wailing at them. A blue bolt shot out its nose and hit Morph before it swept over Techo, Draco and Chip, the air shimmering. When it flew on, the trio had vanished. Morph tottered over, smoking a little before saying, "Sunday is...Pancake Day..." and then fell over.

"What did that do?" yelled Matt, before throwing a plasma orb at the ship as it came in for another pass, only for it to bounce off. It used whatever it had used on Techo, Draco and Chip to sweep up Chloe, Chris and Morph.

"No way I'm being swept up like a dust bunny," said NegaMorph before firing nega blasts at the aircraft. The ship shook slightly before sending a blast at Matt and Negamorph, knocking them down. Spyro and Cynder got ready to take off before another blast almost hit them. The fighter then used its beam to sweep up the wagon, taking Cynder as well, before heading towards the summit where the cave was.

A few minutes later, Matt, Spyro, and NegaMorph were coming back around. "Ow, what was that?" asked Spyro. "Hell if I know...damn." said Matt, getting up and wincing. "This did not go well...Zara's gonna kill us." Spyro looked around and noticed Cynder disappeared. "Oh no, they've got Cynder," said Spyro, "They're probably going to take them to Malefor."

"Then lets go up there and kill him...third time lucky?" said Matt. "Question is, where'd they take them?" asked Spyro. "We try the cave...if old zombie breath is after the eggs, he'll be there. I guess he got over his attack of standards." said Negamorph, before opening a shadow portal. "Oh no...we can walk...AAAH!" said Matt before Negamorph pushed him inside.

"Uh, you sure that's safe," asked Spyro. "Oh, he's fine," said NegaMorph, "He's just a big baby." There was an echoing scream from the portal along the lines of 'OH DEAR LORD' before it was cut off. "Mostly." amended Negamorph.

"Uh, can't I just fly-" started Spyro before NegaMorph said, "Nonsense, this is faster. Now get going." He then pushed Spyro through before jumping in himself.

Back at the cave, Cynder came too to see a familiar pair of forepaws in front of her. "General Cynder. How good to see you again." said Malefor. Cynder growled and said, "The pleasure is definitely not mine."

"Please, Miss Cynder. If I wanted you dead, my warriors could have destroyed you in their ship with ease." said Malefor in a casual voice, bringing a paw to his face and examining his claws like it was just a friendly meeting.

"Then I suppose you'll be trying to recruit me again," said Cynder, "Well my answer is, and always will be, no." "But Miss Cynder...how do you think we found out you were coming?" said Malefor, smoothly. "You had spies in the shadows, big deal," said Cynder.

"You are partially right in that respect...but who's shadow?" said Malefor smoothly before looking at the cave. "Did you ever wonder why I forbade you or Gaul to come here?" he said.

"Actually, I was rather puzzled," confessed Cynder, "I kept trying to think of a reason, but none of them seemed very likely." "I remember...when Eldar red turned on his fellows...being called away from my dear Devina one full moon. I did not return in time." said Malefor, apparently staring into the middle distance in sad recollection.

"Devina? You don't mean...You mean you two were..." started Cynder. "Yes...my son is in that cave somewhere..." said Malefor. "I may be what I am...but I will always respect this cave." he said, adding "No matter what Darkans says."

"Um...wow..." said Cynder, "I didn't think you two were that close. She seemed rather...aloof." "She had her softer moments..." said Malefor wistfully before turning to Cynder. "You helped me a great deal..."

"What are you talking about?" demanded Cynder. "Haven't you figured it out yet?" said Malefor, "I've been using a pair of eyes and ears that had direct access to most of my enemy councils, completely un-suspectable." Cynder's eyes widened and she said, "No, it can't be. I couldn't-" "Of course, it came with a few disadvantages, such as being able to falsify some info," interrupted Malefor.

Cynder looked shellshocked. "No matter the outcome...you WILL be returning with me." said Malefor, now in his familier cold voice. "I would sooner die," hissed Cynder. "My dear...I know thats not true." said Malefor, in a amused voice that made Cynder flinch.

Just then, the shadow portal spat out Matt, Spyro, and NegaMorph farther along the mountain. Matt gulped. "I feel like roadkill." he said weakly. "Oh, quit your wining," said NegaMorph, "You're undamaged, aren't you?" Spyro didn't look much better. "Oooh...why are there 4 of you?" he said, gulping.

"No wonder your species never built rollercoasters," said NegaMorph. "Oh, kiss my ass." said Matt weakly, before walking out of the ruin they had warped into and jumping back. The other two peered out to see the fighter from earlier, landed. "Well...we found em." muttered Matt.

"And it looks like we've found the cave too," said NegaMorph, noticing the cave the fighter was parked in front of. "Wait...where are the others?" said Matt. Suddenly, one of the warriors, minus his helmet walked round the corner and pressed something on the ship. There was a wailing noise and the missing members of the gang appeared, out cold.

"Well, that answers that," said NegaMorph. "No, Cynder's not with them," said Spyro in a concerned voice. "No helmet." said Matt, pointing his finger, a small needle-shaped plasma bolt appearing.

NegaMorph grabbed Matt's and squeezed it tight, cutting off Matt's concentration and circulation, causing the plasma bolt to flick out. "You crazy? "There's two of them...remember?" he hissed at Matt, proved right as the fellow warrior walked round the corner and said something to his companion that made them both laugh.

Matt growled and said, "I could take that other one." "Think for once." said Negamorph, angrily. "Ok, fine, what would you do, smartycoat?" snapped Matt. Negamorph grinned toothily. "Spyro? Come on with me."

The warrior looked over as some of the inferiors began to wake before hearing someone. "Yo, blackhead! Your mother never kissed you did she? Of course not, you don't have any lips! But I bet she slapped you a lot!" called NegaMorph.

The warrior turned to look to see Negamorph, before aiming at him and firing. Negamorph ducked it and laughed "Whats the matter? Blind as well?" The warrior growled and walked into the ruin, only for Spyro to tackle him hard enough into the wall to break the warriors neck.

Matt only glared and grumbled, "I could have done that." The trio peered out again to see the last warrior looking for his friend before messing with his ship again to make the wagon appear. Chloe began to stir and the warrior casually aimed its blaster at her. Matt saw red at this, coming back to his senses to see the warrior slumped in front of him, definitely dead judging from the state it was in.

"Erm, did I do that?" asked Matt. Negamorph nodded "Yup...you definately are over protective." he said, helping Matt up. "Let's wake up the others," said Matt, "I wanna dump off these eggs as soon as possible."

Malefor however was still talking to Cynder. "Your friends are most likely dead by now...I am sorry to say that my new allies are not as merciful as I ever was." he said. "What makes you think they'll not be able to handle themselves?" said Cynder.

"Because they will be unconscious like you were when you emerged from their trap. The dark ones will have no qualms with executing them while they sleep." said Malefor. "Spyro will be gone." "You're forgetting two things: Matt and NegaMorph," said Cynder, "They weren't swept up with me. They'll be here any minute to, what's that term, kick your butt." "I doubt it." said Malefor, smugly.

"You don't get it," said Cynder, "I've seen Matt when someone he cares about is in danger. You don't want to be standing in his way." "Yes, he is a pain...of course there is spyro..." said Malefor before leaning in close "I understand that the weapons of my allies cause great pain before death."

Cynder growled and said, "They won't succeed. Since when have your allies ever succeeded?" "You did." said Malefor, with a cruel smile. Cynder growled louder and said, "You think I'll turn to your side just because you bring up old memories?" "You will have nobody left after today...who do you think will be blamed if you return alone?" said Malefor.

Cynder roared and said, "You won't be killing anyone ever!" "Thats the Cynder that once served me." said Malefor.

Not far away, Spyro had slipped off to try and find Malefor and Cynder and now was being held back by Negamorph. "Dammit...wait for the others." muttered Negamorph. "We can't, Malefor could be re-corrupting her by now," said Spyro. "How will getting killed help her?" said Negamorph. "We don't have time for this," said Spyro, trying to push past NegaMorph.

At that Spyro managed to push Negamorph off and vaulted over the rock they were behind. "GET AWAY FROM HER!" he roared, charging Malefor. Malefor turned and spotted Spyro. "Ah, Spyro, what perfect timing," said Malefor as if he had just put the kettle on for tea.

At that, his eyes glowed yellow and several dozen heartless appeared around spyro. "Do watch, Cynder...see what your betrayal brings." he said before mentally commanding the heartless to attack. Spyro blasted them with his fire breath, incinerating several of them.

Another jumped on Spyro's back and tried to dig his claws into the dragons back. Spyro snarled and rolled to crush the heartless on the floor before getting up and using his convexity breath to blast the final heartless and turning to face Malefor...only for a almost black blast to send him flying.

Spyro slammed into a wall and slid to the ground. He sat up and shook his head. "Like it?" said Malefor, "One of a few gifts I have gained from my 'friends'." Cynder cried out as Malefor blasted Spyro again, laughing as he did. A heartless warrior type appeared behind her, grabbing her to hold her back. "I should have seeked these people out before we met...maybe our battle would have ended differently?" taunted Malefor, pinning Spyro under his paw and readying a blast, only for a plasma ball and lightning bolt to hit the side of his head.

"Well this battle's gonna end like it always does," said Matt as he and Chloe stepped forward. "With you fleeing with your tail between your legs," said Chloe. At those words they activated their ion staffs for emphasis as the rest of the gang turned up. Malefor shook the stars from his head before snarling. "You're like a cockroach." he hissed before spitting a purple fireball at them.

Matt dodged it and said, "Yeah, I get that a lot." Spyro said "Look out for the..." and winced as Malefor used his new dark fireball to send Matt flying and finished with "...new fireball." Matt got back up a little dizzily and said, "Ok, new fireball, got it, check please." Malefor roared and spat another fireball, this time at Draco.

Draco barely dodged and said, "Phew, that was too clo- Whoa!" He was suddenly picked up by his tail by the dark warrior with the seemingly-broken neck. "I thought you killed this guy," said Draco. "Inferior." hissed the dark one warrior before spinning Draco round like a flail and throwing him into Chloe. He then took aim at Chris and began shooting.

"There are too many here," said Malefor suddenly, "We have to fall back." The warrior looked over in surprise before keeling over as Chloe shot him in the face. Malefor backed up as the gang began to surround him. "Release Cynder and maybe we'll accept a surrender." said Chloe, her blade at the ready. Malefor smirked "I think not." he said before making a gesture Negamorph recognized

"Stop him! He's gonna open-" shouted NegaMorph before a shadowy portal opened. "I may be forfeiting, but I'm taking a consolation prize," said Malefor. Spyro ran forward as Malefor and the heartless holding Cynder melted into the ground, taking the young dragoness with it. "CYNDER...NOOO!" he yelled, scrabbling at the ground where Cynder had been in desperation. "Spyro, it's no use, they're gone," said NegaMorph.

"No...no, she can't be...you can make those portals...help me follow them." said Spyro, turning to Negamorph, his eyes glistening with tears at the terrible possibilities now going through his head. "Well, I could, I'm just not sure if I can link up with theirs," said NegaMorph. Spyro glared and pinned Negamorph. "HELP ME!" he roared.

"Hey, you know I would if I could," said NegaMorph, "I'd give it a try, but I'm not certain if I'll get the right address." Matt walked up. "What would happen if you got it wrong?" he said. "Probably not anything good," said NegaMorph, "Might end up knocking on Cthulu's front door for all I know."

Matt nodded before turning to Spyro. "We'll get her back...but we'll need a plan. We go in half-cooked and we'll get killed." he said. "Er, speaking of half-cooked, you might want to check on Morph," said Chip. Morph had a small campfire going and was warming up a large frying pan on it. "How do you like your eggs?" asked Morph. Matt clicked a finger and made plasma control squash Morph into a disk shape.

"Over easy," said Matt, "Though sometimes I like them scrambled." With that, Matt sent Morph bouncing off the various landscape features before knocking him into the lightning field and back out, now trailing wisps of smoke and finally into Negamorph's face. NegaMorph peeled him off and muttered "Tilt," before tossing Morph over his shoulder. Spyro just stared at where Cynder disappeared. "I hope she's ok," he muttered.

Meanwhile, Cynder was struggling to break her shadowy bonds. Malefor looked over at her. "I suggest you calm down. You cannot break free and even if you could...where would you go?" he said as Darkans came in, apparently furious. "I see instead of an army, you brought a baby." he said in a worryingly calm voice.

"I assure you, she has power enough on her own," said Malefor. Darkans sighed "With some...additions yes. Now...where is the army you said you would fetch?" he said, his eyes glowing from barely contained fury.

Malefor growled and said, "I might not be considered a model dragon, I'm hardly even the most popular one on this planet, but I'll be damned before I let you lay a claw on my mate's egg!"

Darkans smiled. "So you disobeyed me?" he said and vanished in a cloud of flame as Malefor blasted him. The smoke appeared to see a dark mist that reformed into Darkans who yawned and then pinned Malefor to the far wall with a gesture.

Cynder could only stare in shock and horror. She never imagined another being could pin Malefor like that. Darkans walked casually up to Malefor. "You think more with your heart then your mind...a terrible drawback as a servant...but I can solve that..." he said before making another gesture.

Malefor roared loudly in pain as darkness started to cover his body. But then a reddish-pink light start to glow in the center of his torso. The glow grew brighter until a glowing heart emerged from Malefor and floated towards Darkans. That's when Malefor stopped roaring and then his body slowly faded away into nothing.

Darkans stepped back as if waiting. Cynder was just staring in horror. Darkans said to her cockily "Wait for it." Then the heart became covered in darkness. The darkness grew and started to take shape and form. In a few seconds, what looked like a black version of Malefor stood there, the Heartless symbol on his chest. Darkans smirked at Cynder. "Now that is dealt with...I suppose I should start work on you..." he said.

The return to Warfang was not very cheerful. Technically, their mission was a success, but they still felt like they've failed. Spyro was definately the most depressed of all. The eldars listened gloomily as the group told the tale that had taken place.

"I had a feeling Malefor would do this," said Terrador, "I don't distrust Cynder, but I had suspicions that Malefor was getting his claws into her." Spyro glared "She didn;t choose to go with him." he said angrily. "There is no questionability regarding her opinion towards alliance with Malefor," said Volteer, "But his more malevolent colleagues are more forceful regarding the acquisition of reinforcements."

"Cynder's stronger than that." said Spyro. Matt nodded "If she wasn't then we'd have died at the tower." he added in support. "True, but the Dark Ones have greater power than Malefor," said Cyril, "Whether they can completely control her, I cannot say. But I fear the next time we meet her, she will attack us."

Spyro's head dropped at this and he turned to leave. "Nice...real nice." said Matt and turned to follow. Terrador glanced at Zara and said, "I noticed that you haven't blamed the humans for this problem." Zara looked as Chloe walked out after the other two. "There was nothing they could have done." she said.

**End of Chap 7**

**On no...Cynder caught by the dark ones. This won't end well for the gang. Tune in next time.**


	8. Dark Secrets

**Draco, Contrinus, Chip and Cydra are property of my co-author, Cydra. **

**Matt, his merc team, the NSC and related tech, the ancients/atlanteans and malefors dragon generals are mine.**

**CPS Chronicles**

**Soulless Abyss**

**Chapter 8: Dark Secrets**

Since the gangs close call with the dark one warriors during their egg transportation, Morgan and Xavier and agreed that the lynches should learn some advanced techniques using their Shar khan powers.

However, they were re-calculating this in the face of the new craters Matt was causing. "Ok, we'll try it again," said Morgan, "And this time, try not to make a big mess."

Matt rolled his eyes. "This is harder then it looks...the last time I managed it, I was nearly blind in one eye cause an alternate Malefor had tried to slice my face off." he said, readying a plasma orb that formed into a shaky dart shape.

Xavier peered over the hillock he was behind. "Careful, you're losing...DOWN!" he yelled, ducking down as the plasma orb shot off and blew a old wall up. Chloe, who was filing her nails, didn't even look up at the sound of the blast. "You're wasting your time," she said, "Teaching Matt to be stealthy is like teaching a frog to fly."

Xavier looked over at her with a smile. "And what was your excuse, my dear?" he said. It was worth noting that not all the new craters were of Matt's doing. "I don't know, maybe there's sunspots' screwing up the magnetic field or something," said Chloe.

Matt was sniggering at this. "Yeah...what about yesterday...WOW!" he said, dodging a lightning bolt. Morgan and Xavier watched with embarrassed looks as the two lynch siblings started fighting. "This...is not going well." admitted Morgan. Xavier scratched his chin and said, "You know, this all seems incredibly familiar to me."

"Yes, old friend. It is." said Morgan, pulling out a amulet on his neck, made from blue gem material. It glowed faintly. "You really think the order will have changed their attitude?" he said. "Hard to say, we haven't heard from them in quite a long time," said Xavier.

"Yes...I understand that the maps have literally been re-drawn...with alot more cracks." said Morgan, before the two stepped aside to avoid a wild shot. "Maybe sooner rather then later." said Xavier tactfully.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Warfang, Spyro and Sparx were trying to have a conversation. Emphasis on 'trying' since Matt and Chloe's blasting could be heard all the way over there. "Its not so bad, bro. You didn't get killed or anything." Sparx was saying to Spyro who was lying with his head on his paws, glumly.

"But Cynder's gone, she's gone..." moaned Spyro. "Yeah, I know, that's probably the 13th and 14th time you've told me," said Sparx. "You'll find her again. You did last time. Hopefully this time there'll be less pirates." said Sparx.

"You really think so?" asked Spyro. "Hey, it's not like she's evil again," said Sparx. Spyro glared at Sparx who backed up a bit. "Hey...I'm not saying she'll go all dark side again but..." he said and stopped under Spyro's glare. Spyro got up and said "I'm going for a walk. Maybe it'll help me sleep?" he said in a dull voice before he and Sparx winced as another explosion was heard and a surprisingly intact piece of earth with a flower landed outside.

"He really needs to get his mind off of her," said Sparx before looking up to see some masonry falling towards him like a bomb strike. Spyro walked down the street gloomily. most of the population were awake for obvious, loud reasons. Ember and Flame were awake, talking to Negamorph who looked a bit twitchy from lack of sleep when they saw Spyro go by. "Losing Cynder's really gotten to him. I suppose you guys have an idea to get her back?" said Flame.

NegaMorph yawned loudly and said, "Splash her with holy water and call me in the morning..." He then dozed off for a few seconds before half a statue crashed down nearby. His eyes shot open and for a second seriously concidered going and shooting Matt, if only so he could sleep. "If I go to talk to Spyro, will you knock me out?" he said in a tired voice.

Flame and Ember looked at each other before Ember said, "Depends, what can knock you out?" "I don;t care." said Negamorph darkly before turning and walking after Spyro. "Spyro...how are things?" he said, trying to sound cheerful.

"Miserable," said Spyro gloomily. "Yeah. I know how you feel." said Negamorph, remembering how he had felt when he had 'lost' Silvia. "You know what I do when I'm upset?" he said.

"You blast the person who's upset you?" said Spyro. Negamorph winced as another explosion was heard. "Its works better then you think." he said darkly. "I don't want to have to resort to destruction to make me feel better," said Spyro. "You never know." said Negamorph, his left eye twitching. The explosions seemed to have stopped for now. "Maybe he's finished?" said Negamorph before a smoking boulder landed on him.

The next morning, Matt went to the mess hall in the ship, finding NegaMorph with bloodshot eyes staring at the wall. "Man, you look wasted. You sleep well?" said Matt.

NegaMorph started giggling in a disturbingly Matt-like fashion. "Nope, didn't sleep a wink. But I bet you slept like a log, didn't you?" he said before pulling out an axe and swinging it at Matt. Chloe came in to see Matt run by wordlessly, saving all his breath for escaping the sleep depredation crazed negamorph right behind him. She sighed and turned to walk out again, bumping into spyro as she left the ship.

"Hi Spyro, feeling better?" asked Chloe. Spyro sighed "As well as I can be." he said gloomily. "Listen, I know it seems bad right now, but it actually looked much worse than when you were captured by Malefor," said Chloe.

Spyro sighed again "Cynder told me what would have happened. I feel like I failed her." he said and jumped back as Chloe snapped "Don't be stupid." "But it's my-" "No, it's not your fault, there's nothing anyone could have done, now shape up before I bury you in a sand pit," snapped Chloe.

Spyro looked angry for a second before backing down. "Yeah...you're right." he said. "Cynder won't want me moping about...we'll find her...what the?" he said as a bang was heard up ahead. He and Chloe ran round the corner to see several dragons opposite Negamorph and Matt.

"Oh, great, what now?" groaned Chloe. Chloe's complaint drew the attention of two more dragons. "There's another one of those home-wreckers," said one. "I think she's the one whose lightning bolts destroyed my windows," said the other. Chloe turned to look at them icily. "It was Morgan and Xavier who said we had to train." she said. One of the dragons glaring at Matt and Negamorph said "You...humans have caused nothing but trouble since you came."

"That's not true," said Spyro, "They've also helped us on many occasions." "...fixing problems they caused." said one of the other dragons. Matt glared "At least we actually helped fixed things." he retorted. One of the dragons snarled at him and said, "Is that an accusation, human?" Chloe could sense Matt gearing up for a smart comeback and muttered "Please don't..." and winced as Matt said "It's an observation."

The dragon snarled and snapped at Matt's head with his teeth. Matt jumped back and tried to ready one of the new melee shields Morgan had tried to teach him, instead causing a wall of semi-energised plasma to hit the dragon. Of course, this incited the other dragons to attack Matt.

Chloe and Spyro ran forward to help and by the time that Morgan, Xavier and the eldars had arrived it was on the verge of turning fatal. "CEASE THIS AT ONCE!" roared Cyril while Morgan checked the dragon who had been burnt by Matt's failed shield. "He'll be fine..." said Morgan.

"It was an accident," said Matt, "I was trying to make a shield, but it just blasted instead." Xavier said "I believe you...but this cannot continue. We have to do something." he said. Cyril nodded in agreement. "Next time, you or your opponent may not be so lucky." He said.

Matt was wondering what they meant by 'him' when he looked at his own hands. The top layer of skin had been burned off, leaving reddened skin underneath. Cyril nodded and said. "There is a small group of dragons and other beings called the Order of Light that helped dragons and before they vanished, shar khan control their powers. They may be able to help you."

"I'll go with him," said Spyro, "Maybe they'll be able to tell us how to bring Cynder back." Morgan said "I'm sorry, Spyro...This is something the lynches must do alone." Spyro looked downfallen at this as Matt said "Hey...on the bright side...when we come back we can help you nuke Malefor."

A little later, Spyro was taking a short walk at the edge of the city. Sparx was tagging along and was trying to cheer up Spyro. Sparx said in his cheerful tone "You'll find Cynder again, bro. I'm sure she's fine."

"I really hope so," said Spyro, "I'd hate to think that-" He paused and said, "Do you hear that?" The two of them could hear laughter nearby, and not the nice kind. Two teenage dragons, a poison and a ice dragon were at the side of the street they were on and had apparently were talking about something amusing. Spyro and Sparx went closer curiously.

"So you think she really got kidnapped or did she go willingly?" asked the poison dragon. "I wouldn't be surprised at all if she went on her own," said the ice dragon, "I always had a feeling that she'd go crawling back to Malefor." Sparx winced at this and said "Easy, bro. They're just idiots." in a surprising show of tact.

"Personally, I don't see why Spyro would want to hang out with the likes of her," said the ice dragon, "Then again, he does keep pretty weird company like those humans or those things with too many limbs or eyes." "Probably kept her for some eye candy," said the poison dragon, "I know I wouldn't mind having some of that tail."

Sparx winced as Spyro growled at this comment, making the two dragons turn to see them. "Well, speak of the devil," said the ice dragon, "Or should I say the devil's toy?" Spyro said "Take back what you said about her." in a voice of barely contained rage. Sparx gulped as he was the first to notice a familiar aura appearing faintly. "Spyro? I think you best calm down." he said in a worried tone.

"Or what?" said the poison dragon, "Does the big tough purple dragon have a soft spot for turncoats?" Spyro seemed to snap at that, lunging at the poison dragon, his scales turning a familiar black and his eyes turning a frightening white, before knocking the poison dragon across the street. Sparx quickly flew off to find some help. He had seen how destructive Spyro's other half could be.

The first person he came across was NegaMorph, who was tired out from the lack of sleep last night and chasing Matt with the axe, so he was leaning against a wall and snoring loudly. "Hey...hey, wake up." yelled Sparx, before being temporarily cut off when he flew too hard into Negamorph and got stuck. "Eurgh...Hey, blob...erm...Negamorph. You gotta come quick." he said, trying to wake Negamorph up.

NegaMorph was in too deep a sleep, and even if he wasn't, his snoring drowned out Sparx's voice. Sparx sighed, muttering "He sleeps heavier then the guardians." before flying off to find someone else.

Dark Spyro however was currently venting on the two dragons. The poison dragon was slumped out cold but his ice dragon friend was not read to go down easily. He spat a ice blast at Dark Spyro's back while he was beating the poison dragon up.

However, this only shifted Spyro's attention to the ice dragon and blasted a convexity beam at him. The ice dragon yelped as the blast narrowly missed him, the explosion showering him with sharp shards of rock. "Hey...hey. We didn't mean it." he said, desperately, trying to back up as Dark Spyro walked towards him, the poison dragon groaning behind him.

"No one insults Cynder like that," growled Dark Spyro, his voice echoing with dark power. "Please...please." gibbered the ice dragon, stopping as his back banged up against a wall. Dark Spyro opened his mouth to ready a convexity beam and stopped as Matt, Chloe, Morgan and Sparx came round the corner. "Spyro...don;t be nuts." yelled Matt.

"Yeah, that's his job," said Sparx, pointing at Matt. "Yeah, that's...HEY!" snapped Matt. Chloe muttered under her breath, "I wanted to say that..." Dark Spyro turned and hissed, "They must pay..."

Sparx had explained what had happened when he had found Morgan first. The Lynches had followed when Morgan had ran by. Morgan said carefully "Is this what Cynder would want?" Dark Spyro stopped snarling, hesitating for a minute. Chloe said carefully. "You don't wanna kill that guy...no matter what he said. You're better than that."

Dark Spyro's anger seemed to be slipping and Matt put the final nail in that, "Remember what Ignitus told you how you were different from Malefor. Destruction does not become you."

That was the final straw and the dark colour leeched from Spyro's scales. The ice dragon took this chance to scramble over and began to say "He just attacked us for no reason." only to back down from the Lynches glares. "The Council will hear about this incident," said Morgan, "And they'll decide the punishment for you two. As for Spyro, it would seem that we have another member for our 'pilgrimage'."

The next day, Morgan had finished explaining what had happened, Spyro and the Lynches present. "...and the Order was well known for teaching dragons to control problems such as this. They can teach him to control his darkness." finished Morgan.

"Such methods of self-control and temperence will be a great aquisition to our advantage to ensure the discontinuation of internal confliction," said Volteer. Morgan shared the confused look of the group and said "Yes?" hoping it was the correct answer.

"Very well, I approve of this juncture for the hopeful success of our campaign," said Volteer. Matt reqognized this "He means 'good luck'." he said to Morgan.

The trio had walked out while Morgan went to check the records for the Orders home. "It'll do the experiments good to get out the city for a bit. I think they're going stir crazy...and they haven;t been sleeping well recently." said Matt.

"Uh, are you sure about that?" asked Chloe, "The Order sounds a little...distrusting, and the experiments are known to flounce first impressions." Matt looked confused at Chloe who said "I did a bit of research on this 'Order'. Apparently they fell out with the eldars of their time around the time the Atlanteans arrived."

"Oh great, they're not another 'anti-human' group, are they?" asked Matt. "It never said." said Chloe. "Well, they cause ant bother to us and the gang'll kick their asses." said Matt.

"I'm afraid that's not the case," said Morgan, who was standing behind them. This cause the Lynches to jump. "Why must everybody do that?" snapped Matt. Morgan grinned and continued "Only you three can come. If only for the fact that if we turn up with a small army they may not welcome us."

"I suppose that would be true," said Chloe, "Besides, they may not be really impressed with the experiments, especially Morph." Matt's eyes glazed over as his mind supplied a list of the disasters Morph could cause in a place like the Order. This took a few minutes given the lists length.

However, the experiments didn't exactly share Matt's opinions. "Oh, c'mon!" cried Draco, "We're as well-behaved as the next bunch of aliens." "What about the time you put plasma mines in my birthday cake?" said Matt, accusingly. "I thought it would have been a nice surprise," said Chip. "Especially since you slip a mine under so many seat cushions," said Draco.

"I told you, that was the spiderbots." said Matt, annoyed before putting his foot down. "You're not coming. Ok?" he said. "Sure thing, Matt," said Contrinus. "And we're not taking a ship, so no tagging along," said Matt. "Rats, he's onto us," said Morph. "Shut up, Morph," said Draco.

Matt looked at them and walked over to a intercom. "Techo? Be so good as to take the control crystal out of the controls, thanks." he said before turning it off and smirking at the experiments.

Morph just pouted and muttered something under his breath. "You know I can speak Tantalog," said Matt. Matt and Chloe turned to leave and Chloe leaned close and muttered "You really think that'll work?" Matt shrugged "Probably not, but this way nobody can blame me for not trying it."

Matt then decided to change the subject. "So, how far is it supposed to be?" he asked. "Its supposed to be really far away. Its clear on the other side of that damn volcano." said Chloe. "And since we're having to flap our wings there, it'll take about...a day's flight to get there?" asked Matt.

"I suppose. Hey. At least you had a years practise." said Chloe.

The flight however turned out to be quite tiring, especially as the group had to bypass the volcano. Chloe flew closer to Spyro who looked even more down. "Hey...what happened to those jerks was their own fault. Hell, I'd have done the same to them if they'd bad mouthed Matt cause of Draconus." she said.

"That's different, you and Matt are expected to act like that. But I'm supposed to be the peacekeeper. How can I keep the peace when I lose my temper like that?" asked Spyro. "Hey. Nobodies perfect." retorted Chloe.

"They expect me to be," said Spyro sadly. "Then they expect too much from a kid." said Chloe sagely. "It's not only that," said Spyro, "I'm supposed to be different from Malefor, I can't give into destructive urges like that."

"Your...best friends been kidnapped. We all know how you feel about this and you'd have to be a robot not to feel some anger." said Chloe, rolling to fly on Spyro's other side. "I guess so," said Spyro, "But I'm afraid the other dragons will turn on me if I keep acting out of emotion."

"Please. From what I hear from matt, the eldars wouldn't turn on you." said Chloe, in a casual voice. "But the crowds might," said Spyro. "Then, they're idiots." said Chloe simply. Spyro sighed and said, "I hope you're right." Chloe grinned and joked "Of course, if it all goes like that, you could join the crew."

Spyro shook his head and said, "No, I can't leave Avalar. I don't just belong here, I'm needed here." Chloe sighed and was about to reply before Matt called out "Does that glow ahead look familiar?"

Chloe looked ahead to see a yellow-orange light appearing in the distance. "Is that another lava stream?" she asked. The group flew ahead and saw the groud drop away. They were flying between two of the floating sections of Avalar. Ahead could be seen the remnants of what looked like a smaller town-sized version of Warfang, teetering on the edge. "Oh, don't tell me that's the order." said Matt. Xavier said "It is..." in a small voice.

"Great, guess we'll have to root around the ruins now," said Matt.

The group landed in the central courtyard of the old city and looked around. "Hello? I am Morgan of the order of Shar Khan. I seek the order of light." yelled Morgan, turning back to his human form. When no one responded, Chloe added sarcastically, "Maybe you forgot the secret password or the secret knock."

Chloe looked around. She was getting the feeling someone was watching her, or knowing the lynches luck...something. "I don't think we're alone here." she said, turning back to human with Matt. "Yeah, I'm getting that same feeling back on Sy Yong," said Matt.

The group slowly walked forward and a second later a fireball landed in front of them. At the same time the doorways and rooftops became very crowded as various dragons, wolf and cheetah clan and even a couple of apes came into view. "Ah, crap." Muttered Matt.

"Order of Light, we come in peace to attain clarity of mind and heart," said Xavier. One of the group, a wolf female spoke harshly "You are not welcome here, Shar Khan and neither is the purple dragon." "Er, perhaps I need to be a bit more specific in why we're here," said Xavier.

The wolf spoke again. "We know exactly why you have come and you won't use any more of our amulets to cause death." The group noticed that all the non dragons were wearing dragon amulets with a shard of blue crystal in them.

"Now wait a minute," said Spyro, "Let's not fly off the handle." "We've heard enough from you," said the wolf, "We've had enough of your abusing our knowledge. You will learn nothing from us and no one else will know how you met your doom."

"I repeat my previous observation of 'oh crap'." said Matt, reaching for his ion blade when their would-be attackers stopped as an earth dragoness flew into view and landed. "Silverfang. Is this any way to treat visitors?" she said in a kind, elderly voice.

The wolf turned and said, "Oh, Sage Gemmenite, I didn't expect you to want to deal with these intruders yourself." "I do not want to 'deal' with them at all. Our feud with the Atlanteans was millennia ago. Those we had grief with are dead. Their descendants need not suffer as well." said the earth dragoness. She turned to see Spyro before adding "And the dragon of destiny deserves more respect then violence."

Matt grinned nervously and said, "Right, Dragon of Destiny, very important, shouldn't kill him or friends." Gemmenite turned to look at Matt who whimpered "Just an opinion." "Er, yes, my friends and I would be really grateful if we could receive the special training this place is well known for," said Spyro.

Silverfang immediately said "Absolutely no..." and was interrupted by Gemmenite who said "Of course." she said before looking at the Lynches. "These two are most definitely in need of amulets judging from their aura's." she added, causing the two Lynch siblings to glare before looking at Spyro. "...and I can see the pain in your eyes as well."

"Yes, he has recently lost his, er, closest friend and it's taking its toll on him," said Morgan, "Only the other day did he go into a convexity rage when he overheard two dragons insulting her."

Spyro winced, his mind playing the worst scenario out and was surprised when Gemmenite said sadly "Losing someone is always hard. You are welcome here...but please...hand over your blades until you leave. This is a place of peace."

Chloe nodded and said, "Fair enough," before taking out her ion blade and putting it on the ground. Matt shrugged and unclipped his own blade as Morgan also did the same. Gemmenite nodded and two of the watching group came forward and picked the blades up, taking them away. "Welcome...It is a shame you cannot see our home as it once was." said Gemmenite. "Yeah, planet-splitting earthquakes, what can you do?" said Matt.

Gemmenite said sadly "We were not expecting such an event. Such a loss." Her tone more or less shut down any response Matt had. Gemmenite said "There are rooms for you near the south wall."

After the travellers had been escorted to their rooms, Silverfang decided she needed to have a word with their most exalted sage. Gemmenite looked up as Silverfang approached her. "You object to my decision regarding the Shar Khan." she said simply.

"These Shar-khan are no different from the rest," said Silverfang, "They just see the amulets as weapons. They are not to be used for war." "You know as well as I am what is currently loose in this world. The Shar Khans enemy is returning. They will be needed again." said Gemmenite in the same infuriatingly calm tone of voice.

Silverfang just growled in response and Gemmenite said, "I can tell that your feud with them exceeds far deeper than misusing our amulets." "Why do you extend your anger upon the dragon of destiny? One who almost died saving our entire world." continued Gemmenite.

"Because he didn't save it in time," snapped Silverfang, "He could have prevent this place from becoming the ruined shambles it is now. He could have prevented my village from being destroyed. But instead, he slept away while Malefor upheaved our world and would not repair the damages done."

"That was meant to be. If he had not slept, he would have died and your village would still be destroyed. Blame does not return the ones we love." said Gemmenite, sadly.

"You think I could forgive him as easily as that?" snapped Silverfang, "If he were as great as legend said he would be, he would have not left the world shattered into so many pieces." Gemmenite sighed and said "Nothing I can say will make you see reason. If you cannot forgive, at least show them the respect due to guests."

Silverfang snorted and said, "Housing them won't be too hard, given how there are so many vanishings." Gemmenite actually looked angry at that. "That is enough," she snapped.

Silverfang paused and said, "I am sorry, master. I overstepped my boundaries." "Please...Leave me." said Gemmenite, curling up on herself in sadness.

Meanwhile, in another part of the town between two more intact buildings, the shadows had started to spin around one point until they joined together to form a spinning vortex.

After a minute the experiments from the crew fell through, followed by Negamorph who stepped through and re-sealed it before saying. "See? I told you I could do it...wait a minute..."

Draco looked around and said, "This is where the Order of Light live? This place looks majorly underfunded." Negamorph glared at Draco and picked him up...by the throat. "You do realise that maybe there was a good reason Morgan didn;t want us tagging along?" he growled, shaking Draco.

"Are you a little curious?" wheezed Draco. "Not really...You really think anyone arriving with a person that can control shadows will be popular at a place with the name 'Order of Light'?" said Negamorph angrily, also pointing out the large problem in the gangs plan.

This was sadly where it all went wrong for the stowaways as Negamorph picked Morph up, bashed him on the floor a bit...the threw him out of the alley into the main street.

There was a scream from the street and Chip peered out. "NegaMorph, I believe you just struck a female pedestrian of the lupine variety with your irksome counterpart." The victim who's face had interrupted Morphs journey to the building on the other side of the street pulled him off and looked to see who had fired gibbering globs at her before seeing Negamorph. "DEMON!" she yelled.

"Well, here we go again," said NegaMorph in a tired voice. He spotted some guards coming and said, "Don't worry, we can escape them in time."

A little while later, the five of them were inside one of the facility's cells. Chip glared at Negamorph and said in a bad impression "Don't worry, we can escape in time." before adding "Has Matt been giving you lessons?" "You want me to put out that eye of yours?" retorted Negamorph.

The door opened and Matt and Morgan walked in, followed by Silverfang who said in a annoyed voice "Are these yours?" Matt looked rather embarrassed. "Yeah, they're like dogs, you know. They follow me everywhere." Morph immediately went, "Arf, arf, woof." "Shut up, Morph," said Draco.

"Why did you have them attack me with...that individual?" said Silverfang, looking at Morph. "I'm sure there's a REALLY good reason." said Matt, glaring at the group in the cells.

"Trust me, you spend more than three minutes with him, you'll want to toss him too," said NegaMorph. Morph then started rubbing his hands on his head, producing a high-pitched squeaking sound that was very annoying.

Silverfang, to her credit lasted a whole minute before conjuring an ice spell and freezing Morph solid. She said to Matt "The eldar will hear of this intrusion by your followers, Captain." she said, adding Matts rank sarcastically.

Matt turned and glared at the experiments. "What does it take to leave you guys behind?" he said. Morph, who had managed to unthaw in a relatively fast time, started counting on his fingers and said, "Uh, some bubblegum, a flock of ducks, a socket wrench, a bag of horseshoes, some flypaper, a big ball of string..."

Draco used his ice breath to freeze Morph again and said "Alot." in summary. Matt sighed and began banging his head on the doorframe while Morgan said sternly "You were very foolish coming here. Eldar Gemmenite is well in her rights to expel us now."

"In my defense, I knew better than to come," said NegaMorph, "I was just outwitted into bringing them here." Morgan said angrily "No excuses. We must just hope the eldar is not too upset over this."

"If we get barbequed for this, Morph goes first," said Chip. "Elder Gemmenite is an earth dragon," said Chloe. Chip blinked and said, "Ok, so Morph gets squashed first."

Matt was walking through the town towards Gemmenites quarters to apologise for the experiments when he bumped into Spyro. "Is it true? I heard Negamorph and the others came." he said. Matt sighed "Bad news travels very fast."

Spyro sighed and said, "Why couldn't they have just stayed?" "That's what I've been asking myself for the last..." Matt paused and checked his watch, "8 minutes." Spyro said "I'll come along too. Apparently Gemmenite is gonna teach me personally so I might as well help put across that your experiments friends aren;t dangerous." Matt nodded and added "Just annoying."

There was a distant scream of frustration, followed by an explosion and Morph yelping in pain. "Very annoying," amended Matt. The duo arrived at Gemenite's quarters to see Silverfang standing outside, practically emitting smugness in spadefuls. "Oh look, Spyro. Its the high priestess of smartasses." said Matt in a cheerful voice.

"Keep joking, halfbreed, I'll be the one laughing at the end of this," said Silverfang. "Nah...I don't think so, dog features." said Matt, walking by her with Spyro who stopped when Silverfang glared at him before walking off. "Man, she really seems pissed at you." said Matt, casually. "I know, and I've never even met her before," said Spyro.

Matt looked at the door to Gemmenite's quarters and was about to knock when Gemmenite was heard saying "Come in." Matt gulped "Thats creepy." Matt and Spyro walked in. Gemmenite's quarters were heavily decorated with precious stones of all kind, which would make sense considering her name.

"I understand several of your friends followed you here." she said. Matt gulped and began to apologise only for Gemmenite to say "Please. Curiosity is hardly a crime. I must ask however that they do not enter the town temple." she said, actually making Matt go speechless. He had expected to be yelled at.

"Um, sure, but I probably should mention that two of them are boneless blobs so bars won't keep them back," said Matt, "However, they can regenerate from anything you could throw at them and feel free to blast them."

Gemmenite smiled a bit at this. "That will not be necessary. Now...I would like to teach young Spyro alone. Please leave." she said. Matt sighed "Ok..." before grinning "I'll just go find Silverfang and tell her the good news."

Gemmenite sighed as Matt left and she said, "You'll have to excuse Silverfang. Her life has been...difficult." Spyro said "What happened to her?" Gemmenite sighed "Her village was a obstacle in Malefor's path after he was released."

"I see," said Spyro, "Then why is she being angry with me?" "She blames you for not saving her people...for sleeping when she thoight you were needed. She does not understand why you had to sleep." said Gemmenite, sadly.

Spyro sighed and said, "I do feel regret for not being able to help then." "There was nothing you could have done, young one." said Gemmenite. "I know, but I still feel guilty," said Spyro. "Such feelings of grief is what your darker side feeds upon...and this is what I will teach you to resist." said Gemmenite.

As soon as he was out of Gemminite's 'office', Matt went to find Silverfang. He soon found her on a street corner, appearently trying to patch up a crack in a wall. "Didn't realize masonry was part of the security job around here," said Matt.

SilverFang turned with a smirk. "Have you not got belongings to prepare?" she said. Matt grinned "Nope..." he said and relished the way Silverfang's grin froze in place before vanishing slowly.

"I believe you were mentioning something about a last laugh last time," said Matt, "I think it actually belongs to me now." SilverFang actually growled at that and snapped "Your people have brought nothing but misery to this world. Hopefully Eldar Gemmenite will see sense before it is too la..." and was cut off as a scream was heard down the street from the direction of the entrance to the town catacombs.

Matt looked in that direction and said, "What was that?" Silverfang didn;t answer, instead running in the screams direction. Matt ran after her and they both turned the corner to see a young cheetah being dragged towards the catacomb entrance by a human figure.

"Hold it right there!" shouted Silverfang. The figure merely glanced at her before pointing its arm at her and shooting several energy blasts from its wrist. The only thing that saved Silverfang from being turned into so much mince was Matt tackling her to the floor. The blasts themselves boew several dozen holes in the masonry behind the two. The figure continued its fire for a second before, satisfied that it had put the intruders off, continued to drag its victim into the catacombs.

However, the moment its back was turn, a plasma orb shot out and collided with the back of its head. Matt had enough experience with dark one warriors to know that all this was likely to do would be to piss the warrior off so was surprised when it neatly removed the targeted head. The warrior was thrown onto its front and melted into nothing. Silverfang and Matt slowly approached where the warrior had been before Silverfang went over to the Cheetah kid, hugging it. "Oh boy..." said Matt.

"How did you know how to kill it?" asked Silverfang. "Would you believe that was a lucky shot?" asked Matt. Silverfang glared at him before grudgingly saying "Thank you." before stepping into his path as Matt walked towards the catacomb entrance.

As Matt was about to go down, Silverfang called, "You can't go down there." "He was taking the kid down there. There's probably more...and you can bet they'll be annoyed." said Matt and tried to walk past again.

"It is forbidden to go down there," said Silverfang. Matt finally conceded. "Why don't we go tell your boss about this then? he said sarcastically. "Ah, the old corrupted labyrinth bid," said Matt, "I only saw those kind of things in video games... which you would know nothing about."

Gemmenite listened with a serious tone after Matt and Silverfang had told what had happened. "The Dark ones? Below our home?" she said, sounding genuinely shocked.

"Yeah, they've been popping up everywhere," said Matt, "Particularly where it's nice and dark. Your catacombs would probably seem like a 5 star hotel to them." When he got blanks stares, he said to himself, "I have got to stop using outside references."

Gemmenite said "The only entrance isd in our town. They could not have gotten in without us sensing them. They must have already been in there." Matt said "We have experience with these guys. We could go take a look."

Gemmenite drummed her claws on the ground as she thought. "Well, the tunnels below are too small for dragons to move through, at least for fully grown ones. Not to mention, your kind was bred to deal with these demons," she said, "Very well, you may go down, gather up a team you think can help you."

"Guess Negamorph n co'll come in useful after all." muttered Matt before saying "We'll need someone to show us around down there. We don't wanna get lost down there." Gemmenite nodded "Silverfang will accompany you."

"I'm coming too," said Spyro, "I need to protect this place." "Uh, did you miss the part about the tunnels are too small for you?" asked Matt. "Not quite," said Gemmenite, "He has not grown enough that he cannot navigate the tunnels, but he shouldn't go down there until his training's complete." "Ok, how much long does he have to train?" asked Matt. "He's only had one session," said Gemmenite.

"Ah." said Matt, uncertainly. Spyro however said "I'm not going to let those things take anyone else." in a final tone of voice. Gemmenite sighed and muttered "The certainty of youth." before saying "Very well...but remember...never listen to whatever the dark ones offer you. The price is always too high."

"Yeah, so don't try for any gold fiddles," said Matt. The others only gave blank stares. "This is more fun when someone's around who gets it," said Matt sulking.

The Catacombs themselves were not as Matt expected. They reminded him of when He, Spyro and Cynder had still been after the Soul gems and had entered the gem mine at Munitions forge, only neater. "This is where the crystals for our amulets grow." explained SilverFang.

"So that's why you call it sacred," said Matt. "Indeed." said SilverFang before leading them further in. "But this is the main reason." she said as they walked into a much larger cavern.

The group paused as they looked at the large wall. On it was the depiction of a large keyhole, though there didn't seem to be any door. Also, the keyhole didn't look carve, but more like it emerged from the rock.

Matt was the first to recognise it. The NSC made sure anyone who had anything to do with the military could recognise one of them. "Great. Now we have a more urgent reason to chop those Dark one guys to bits." he said. Morgan was next to tag on and muttered something in atlantean. "This is very bad." he said in english.

"So what? It's just a rock carving," said Draco. "Its a bloody keyhole. Heartless can...I dunno how they do it but if they get to this, the whole planets buggered." said Matt bluntly.

"So what? They use this place to unleash a tectonic force that would destroy the planet?" asked Chip. "No, they use it to reach this world's heart, and I don't mean the core," said Chloe, "And when they take the heart, the world will disappear into darkness."

"Poof...just like that." said Matt, snapping his fingers. Morgan said "The Dark ones used it several times during the war. Nobody knew what happened. Even the wormhole would seal." he said, before turning to Silverfang. "This cavern must be sealed completely at once."

"Uh, not when there are prisoners to rescue we're not," said Contrinus. Matt nodded as Spyro noticed Silverfang looking at another entrance on the far side of the cavern. "Hey...are you ok?" he said. Silverfang said "This was not here the last time the order came to this place." she said.

Matt looked at the entrance and asked, "What's down there?" "A bag of rubies says that's where we'll find the people they've taken," said NegaMorph. Silverfang walked in first, followed by Matt. It seemed like a cave-in had opened up this tunnel. However, as the group walked in, their footsteps suddenly sounded metallic. Matt shone his wrist-comps light to see a steel floor before shining up to see burnt out lighting and rust covered walls, with doors at equal intervals leading to empty rooms.

"Is it me or does this place look like a jail?" asked Contrinus. Morgan wiped some rust off a wall to reveal Atlantean writing and said grimly "Its not you. I thought this place was just a story." "Hmm, I bet they didn't keep just pickpockets and robbers down here," said NegaMorph.

"According to the stories I heard, a single Dark one command ship was shot down before their defeat. The survivors were caught and imprisoned in an underground facility in barely habitable conditions." said Morgan, picking up a depleted Atlantean arc pistol.

"You think they're still here?" asked NegaMorph. "I have no clue. Nobody knows how long the Dark ones live for." said Morgan. Suddenly the shadows seemed alot deeper. Morgan finally said "The dark ones we face have probably just used this place as a useful headquarters. I can easily reboot the central computers and then we can locate where the kidnapped people are...We may even find Shale." he said.

"That could take a while," said Chip, "We don't know how big this place is." "In that case, we'll have to split up," said Morgan. Matt and Chloe looked at each other. "You sure thats a good idea?" Matt said. Morgan said simply "Even the smallest atlantean penal facility is a mile across. This is a maximum security prison...it would have had room for an entire population of security."

"I don't know, that could give whatever here the chance to pick us off one by one," said Chloe. "Dark one armour is susceptible to dragon magic...another reason the Shar khan needed amulets." said Morgan. "I will go with the Lynches. Spyro...go with us. Silverfang...as you can use Dragon magic, you will go with the experiments. Stay together and out of anywhere with a red helix symbol on the door." said Morgan.

"Uh, do I really have to go with the experiments?" asked Silverfang. "They won't hurt you," said Matt, "They're friendly that way." Morph had taken a coin out and was using it to rattle the bars of a cell. Both the Lynches said "Cut that out." Matt added "...but sometimes you have to make sure they don't get bored."

Silverfang forced a grin and said, "C'mon, you little guys..." before adding under her breath, "Before I do something regretful."

The experiment group slowly headed through the tunnels. It was clear something had gone terribly wrong in the facilities final days. Burnt out turrets were on the roofs and they saw skeletons twice with broken neckbones. "Something really wanted out," said Chip.

There was a groan suddenly from a side corridor. "Ok...what was that?" said Draco, weakly. Silverfang tilted her head and listened carefully. A few moments later, the groan came again. "I know that sound," she said, "It's Shale."

The group ran down to see that some of the cells showed signs of havoing had visitors recently. Only one was currently occupied. A teenage earth dragon around Spyro's age was barely conscious in there. He opened a bloodshot eye weakly and looked at them before closing it again. Silverfang said faintly "By Fenris...what was done to you?"

"Nothing enjoyable, I can tell you that," said Contrinus, "We need to get him out of here." Shale's eyes shot wide suddenly "No...he's here...He'll get you too." he said in a frantic, paranoid voice.

"Do we want to know who 'he' is?" asked Draco. "The dark ones leader...he...he took the others...changed them." gibbered Shale. "That doesn't sound good at all," said NegaMorph, "And I bet he's not too far away." "He's coming...he's coming." said Shale, before curling up on himself and whimpering.

"We better tell Matt about this," said Chip. "Uh, I think he may have already found out for himself," said Draco, pointing at some Wyvern Heartless as they were appearing.

Meanwhile, Morgan had led the way into a large facility. Lines of the crystalline computers were everywhere. Morgan walked up to one and touched a shard, making a holographic screen appear. "Hmm...strange." said Morgan, thoughtfully before making the lights turn on. A figure was illuminated next to him. "Greetings." said the newcomer before punching Morgan so hard he flew into the far wall.

Matt and Chloe immediately turned towards the newcomer and drew out their ion blades. The newcomer was wearing a scarlet version of the dark one warrior armour but without the helmet. "Ah...New shar Khan. It is always a pleasure." he said in a polite tone before several red ion blades emerged from the gauntlets on his arms. "I am WarMaster Xodrin of the Amethean Navy. You call my race, 'Dark Ones'." he said.

"Had a feeling you were with them," said Matt, "Let me guess, you were the captain of that ship they shot down." "You could say that. I was spared your anscestors cowardly 'final solution' by being a guest of this wonderful facility." said Xodrin, apparently not bothered. "Did you ever ask who fired first in the war...who was the real 'invaders'?" he said. Morgan said weakly. "Don't...listen."

"We didn't come here to listen," said Chloe. "We came to kick dark butt," said Matt before the two of them pulled out their guns and shot at Xodrin. Xodrin sighed and raised his hand, palm up. All the positron rounds stopped dead in the air. "Please. I defeated this technology mllennia ago." he said, before shooting the orbs back to the guns. Chloe was knocked backwards. Xodrin looked up to see Spyro come in saying "What was tha...?" and had to duck as Xodrin fired a bolt of black lightning at him that blew a hole in the wall behind him.

"Oh, a purple dragon," said Xodrin, as if he was looking at an interesting specimen in a zoo, "I haven't seen one of those in ages, literally." He continued "I remember dear Malefor. Full of fire and brimstone." he said before looking closer. "Oh my...such inner pain. You shouldn't bottle it up." he said, his eyes starting to glow.

Spyro winced as he felt a dark force try to penetrate his body. It showed on the outside too, with a dark smoke snaking over his skin. "Thaaats it...let it all ou...ARGH!" he said as Matt stuck his ion blade into Xodrin's back. Surprisingly this just made Xodrin annoyed as he backhanded Matt flying.

Xodrin glanced down at the ion blade that was now protruding out of his chest. "You missed," he said, "Have you forgotten? I'm a heartless wretch." He pulled the ion blade all the way through before hurling it at Matt. Matt barely ducked it before wincing as Xodrin got close and dove his own wristblade into Matt's chest.

"You know, most of my kind prefer to fill another's heart with darkness and then remove it to become one of our minions," said Xodrin, "Me, I prefer to do it manually."

He turned to see Spyro now in his Dark Form. "As you can see...I got good at it." he said before stepping aside to let Matt fall to his knees and saying to Dark Spyro. "Kill him."

Dark Spyro snarled and started towards Matt before stopping. "I don't think I need to make myself clearer, but I see I shall have to try," said Xodrin, "I want you to end this Shar-Khan's life brutally with either your claws, fangs, or any other means."

Dark Spyro got close to Matt who simply sighed before turning to face Xodrin and saying in his echoing voice. "No." Xodrin glared and his eyes glowed with the same white as Dark Spyro's. "You WILL obey me. Kill the hybrid."

Dark Spyro winced slightly before glaring back at Xodrin and saying, "I said NO!" He then opened his mouth and fired a blast of convexity energy at Xodrin. Xodrin seemed surprised before the blast sent him flying across the room and through the wall. Chloe came round to see Dark Spyro in front of Matt and drew her gun. "Back off from him." she said before seeing Matt's injury.

Chloe nearly lost it and would have attacked Dark Spyro before Dark Spyro said, "Help Matt, I'll keep Xodrin busy." Chloe looked surprised for a second before nodding and helping her brother up. Xodrin however stepped back through the hole, looking a bit dazed. "I'm a bit annoyed." he said casually before sending a blast of energy at Dark Spyro.

Spyro countered with a shield made of convexity energy before shooting another blast at Xodrin. Xodrin was ready this time, slicing the blast in the middle with his blades, both halves flowing around him. "Didn't your mother ever teach you not to spit?" he said.

"He was raised by dragonflies," said Matt before throwing another plasma orb at Xodrin's head. Xodrin deflected the orb easily, making it hit the roof which began to crack. "Well, I'd love to stay and brush up on my combat skills but I got places to go." said Xodrin before concentrating. A second later, a burst of what seemed like shadows shot out, knocking everyone down. Xodrin looked around at his unconscious adversaries and shrugged, blasting the doorframe as he left.

Matt got up first and noticed the seemingly empty doorway. "Ha, the idiot forgot to lock us in," said Matt as he ran for the door. However, when he attempted to pass through, a wall of shadow appeared in the doorway.

Morgan was already awake. "He sealed the doorway. We're not going anywhere." Matt walked over and checked Spyro, who had turned back to normal when he had been knocked out. "I guess this solves the mystery of the missing people." he said.

"Indeed," agreed Morgan, "Which is why we need to get out of here as soon as possible." "Yeah, and how are we gonna do that?" said Matt sarcastically.

Meanwhile, Silverfang and the experiments had their hands full trying to keep the Wyvern Heartless at bay. Silverfang blasted a wyvern heartless with a fireball and turned in time to see another lunging heartless blasted by Draco. Negamorph cut a attacking heartless in two with his lockblade, only for the heartless to vanish and a unconscious wolf cub the victims who had been fuelling the heartless fall at his feet in its place.

Shale had gotten over part of his fear and was blasting any heartless he saw in a way Matt would have been proud of. Pieces of rock were firing like shrapnel, causing the Heartless to back away from him.

However, for every heartless the gang brought down, several more were waiting for a chance and the gang were in a dead end corridor. Suddenly, the heartless stopped and began to vanish back into the shadows in the walls.

"Why'd they leave?" asked Contrinus. "I'm not complaining," said Chip, "We probably ought to take these people back up to the surface. It's not safe for them down here." Negamorph nodded and turned on the radio in his 'web of lies' tek-pak to call Matt. However all he got was a distorted whine. Draco was listening in and said "Well...thats never good."

"Right, looks like some of us will have to go down and fetch them," said NegaMorph, "The rest should take the captives back up top." Draco, Chip and Contrinus immediately began helping the still dazed ex-captives down the corridor. Shale however said "I'm coming with you. The creature behind this is still loose."

"It's not going to be easy, kid," said NegaMorph, "Not to mention you're still weak from being held here." "I'm coming." said Shale in a final tone of voice. "Your funeral," said NegaMorph, "And it'd probably be mine too if it is."

The group headed down the tunnels towards where the Lynches and Morgan had gone, stopping when they saw a blastdoor that had been blown off its hinges. The blast looked new but the red helix symbol that Morgan had warned them about was clearly visible.

"I think I got this," said Morph. He walked forward, spat on his hands, and rubbed them together. He then held out his hands and called, "Open sesame!" The door didn't move. Negamorph glared at his 'brother' and slapped him. "Usually doors are attached." he said before looking at the symbol. "...but I don't want to meet what tore this open."

"Whatever it was, it's probably going to be standing between us and the humans," said Silverfang in an uncharacteristically concerned voice.

The group nervously carried on until they came across the door apparently blocked by pure blackness. Negamorph looked at the shadow barrier, impressed. "Good craftmenship for a barrier." he said before hearing Chloes voice from the other side "Negamorph? Is that you?"

"Chloe? Are you guys ok?" called NegaMorph. "Most of us are but Spyro's still out cold and Matt's been stabbed bad. Some...dark one called Xodrin ambushed us and kicked our asses." said Chloe's voice. Silverfang and Negamorph noticed that Shale cringed at the name.

"Must be the boss here," said NegaMorph, "Don't worry, we'll get you out." Morph opened his mouth and NegaMorph clamped a hand over it. "With something other than 'open sesame'," he added. "Ok," said Morph, taking out his keyblade, "I'll open it with this." "How?" asked NegaMorph, "There's no keyhole."

Morph shrugged and poked the barrier that began to glow before vanishing, revealing the room beyond. Morgan was kneeling by Spyro, checking him for injuries while Matt had been leaned against a wall, his own injury quite visible. Chloe looked like she hadn't slept for weeks from sheer worry. "I gave him all the medi-nanites I got...but its not working." she said.

"He's been stabbed by an ion blade, it's not so easy to recover from a wound like that," said Morgan, "He'll need an amulet to fully activate his healing metabolism." Silverfang's expression didn't change as everyone turned to look at her. "We will not have our amulets used for war...and they cannot simply be given to you for a few minutes. They align to their owners." she said.

"I think we have to take a chance anyways," said Shale, "Xodrin is not easy to beat. We'll need all the help we can get and Shar-Khan are better-suited for fighting those things." Silverfang turned to glare at Shale before Matt said faintly. "I saved your butt."

Silverfang growled slightly and said, "Well, I suppose I do owe him for that. And my honor would be tarnished if he died before I repaid him." She said "Bring him. The amulets are not here...they are stored near the keyhole."

A little while later, the group was trying to judge the best way to get to the amulet room. "Well, it should be on the other side of this wall, but there's no door there," said Morgan, "So we'll have to go around and- NO WAIT!" NegaMorph took the initiative of sending a barrage of nega-blasts at the wall, blowing a large hole open.

Negamorph said "There. Instant door." before noticing Silverfangs and Morgans horrified gazes. "That...is a sacred room." said Silverfang while Morgan said weakly "The wall...this facilities priceless." NegaMorph shrugged and said, "Nothing lasts forever."

Silverfang and Morgan looked ready to rip Negamorph into small bits when Chloe said "Brother needing help." in reminder. "I know what'll make him feel better," said Morph, "How about I sing a song?" "NO!" shouted Chloe, NegaMorph, and Morgan.

The room beyond had several wooden storage racks full of the same golden amulets without the crystal shards. Silverfang looked suspiciously at the group before walking to another section of wall and touching a apparently innocent stone, making a archway appear. She walked inside to where several blue crystals were and broke some shards off.

"Huh, doesn't seem that hard to make," said Chloe. Silverfang gently inserted the first gem into its amulet, before going over to Matt and putting her hand on Matt's wound. Matt's blood trickled over the crystal, causing it to glow with red light.

Silverfang gently put the amulet round Matt's neck. St that the gem glowed brightly and Matts eyes rolled into the back on his head. Chloe seemed concerned before Silverfang explained, "He's fine, the healing knocked him out so it would work faster." Suddenly, there was a loud bang that seemed to come from the keyhole chamber. "Oh great, I bet that pitch-black creep's trying to break into the keyhole," said Chloe, getting up. "No," said Silverfang, "You need your amulet first."

Chloe sighed. "I'll be fine." Morgan nodded and turned to the morphs. "Come...I suggest we prevent finding out exactly what happens when the dark ones open that lock." he said. The trio ran through the tunnel into the keyhole room and immediately had to duck as a hail of energy bolts impacted around them. Four more of the warriors were standing defensively round Xodrin, who was setting up a device near the keyhole.

"These guys again? Where do they keep coming from?" asked NegaMorph. "Most likely more prisoners." said Morgan, before pulling out his ion blade. "Stop Xodrin. I will handle his...friends." he said before jumping up and deflecting a bolt from a warrior back into the chest of its shooter before sending another flying with a blast of high pressured water.

NegaMorph fired his fangs at the gaps between the other warriors' armor, hoping for at least a temporarily-debilitating hit. The warrior hit made a gurgling and dropped to the floor. Their armour was less covering then the other warriors the gang had faced before. However, when Negamorph turned his attention towards Xodrin, the warlord did not seem too worried, or even impressed. "My, you are a interesting lifeform, if a little ugly." he said, pressing a final icon on his device which then began pulsing.

"Oh no, there is no way I'm letting this planet fall into darkness," said NegaMorph, his Lockblade appearing in his hand. Xodrin yawned. "Oh please...you blade holders seem to pop out the woodwork but if you wish. It'll take a while for the lock to open." he said before sending a blast of his arc lightning into Negamorph, using the blade like a lightning rod.

NegaMorph was thrown backwards and into a wall. "I know that wasn't powerful enough to kill you," said Xodrin. Negamorph got up unsteadily and had to dodge another blast that blew a hole into the rock. "...but that was." finished Xodrin, a energy blade extending from his other gauntlet.

Then Xodrin heard a high-pitched battle cry and turned slightly to see Morph charging at him, morphing into Butter as he went. Xodrin merely took three steps to the left and Morph slammed into the rock wall.

"Good grief. Is this all the Shar Khan order can scrape together? However did you win?" he said, readying another burst of lightning to hit Negamoph, before a burst of yellow lightning shot out and began to twist wround him like a tentacle, electrocuting him.

Xodrin was briefly stunned, but soon pulled himself together to see Chloe, an amulet glowing around her neck. He managed to raise his blade in time to block a nasty downward slash that would have cut him in half. "Hmm...good form." he said causally. Chloe's eyes were glowing nastily. "You tried to gut my brother." she growled.

"I've tried to gut a lot of humans, hybridized or not," said Xodrin. Chloe growled and backed up to aim a decapitating cut, only for Xodrin to kick him in the chest, sending her rolling. "I'll say this though. The atlantean military must be desperate to send kids to war." continued Xodrin, smugly.

Just then, Morph, who had reverted to his normal form, unpeeled himself from the wall. He was rather dizzy from the crash and stumbled about, waving his arms to regain balance. Unintentionally, his Keyblade popped into his hand and he happened to bring its tip to Xodrin's ankle.

There was a flash of sparks and Xodrin hopped on his foot in pain, long enough for Chloe to punch him in the face. "Oof...those damn keyblades..." he muttered, before seeing his device activate. "Ah well...times up." he said.

The device started to secrete darkness, which was floating towards the Keyhole. "Oh no, you don't," said NegaMorph, swinging his Lockblade to chop at Xodrin. However, when it was briefly pointing at the Keyhole, a beam of red light shot into it, causing the darkness to back off for a second.

Xodrin actually laughed and pointed to where the others were all passing out, wisps of the shadow from the device around them. "You got a choice...stop me or stop the device. No time for both." he said, adding insult by turning off his blades and backing towards the exit.

Morgan, who was busy with the last of the warriors, shouted, "There's a slim chance you'd be able to beat him before that thing corrupts the Keyhole. Take care of it, we don't have time for him."

Xodrin laughed again and took out another device he threw at the wall, a shadow portal opening. "I don't think so, hybrid." he said, stepping in. NegaMorph growled for a second before calling, "Morph! Use that key on that Keyhole!" Morph looked at the keyhole and poked his blade at it, a white beam shooting out and hitting the lock. There was a click from it...followed by another click as the darkness tried to get into it.

NegaMorph immediately turned on the device generating the darkness and brought his Lockblade down on it like an axe. While the device was not damaged, there was a beep and the black smoke stopped flowing out, allowing the keyhole to lock with a final click. Morgan breathed a sigh of relief as the Lynches, Shale and Silverfang came round before going pale as a tinny vice from the device said "Konoch, vinide, sechnoch, ashnide."

"Er, is that a countdown?" asked Morph. "Yes...grab the others and run." siad Morgan urgently. "But the sacred caverns," protested Silverfang, "We must protect-" She was cut off when Morgan grasped the side of her neck, causing her to topple over unconscious. "How did you know the Vulcan Nerve Pinch?" asked Chloe. "The Vulcan what?" asked Morgan.

"Less talking, more running. Back into that compound." said Matt. The others turned and ran for it, Morgan carrying Silverfang. They had barely made it back into the amulet room when a deafening explosion was heard and about 30 tons of rock collapsed in front of the keyhole. "Well, at least there's no chance of those guys messing with that thing again," said Matt.

Morgan however was knelt down by Spyro. "We need to get him back above ground. He should not be unconscious." he said.

Although Gemmenite was overjoyed to have her son back, she put her personal feelings aside when she saw Spyro's condition. "Do you know what caused this?" she asked.

"A dark one attempted to corrupt him. In the insuring fight we were all rendered unconscious for a short while. Spyro however did not awaken." said Morgan. "I had feared as much," said Gemmenite, "Spyro is now in mortal combat with his dark side. He will remain in this state until one of them is victorious."

"Will he win?" said Matt, looking at Spyro. "Only if his will is strong and his heart is pure," said Gemmenite. "Can't we help in any way?" said Chloe. "No, like the test that determines Shar-Virk from Shar-Khan, this is a battle he must do on his own," said Gemmenite, "All we can do is wait."

Spyro looked around at the area he was in. It reminded him of the arena where he had fought the fake Cynder when attempting to reach the chronicler. As he stood there he got the terrible feeling he was not alone.

Spyro looked around and spotted what looked like a copy of himself. However, this copy was exactly like his dark form, with darkness swirling around it and white eyes shining out. "Its about time you showed it. Its time I got rid of you permently." said his dark form.

Spyro shook his head and said, "This can't be really. You can't be you, I'm you." "No...You created me the second you stepped into the well of souls all those years ago." said his dark form. Spyro glared back as he realized what he was looking at. This was the manifestation of all his dark and destructive desires, a creature that only exists to cause pain and mayhem. "You do not belong here," said Spyro sternly.

"Wrong. You can't live without me." said his dark side before firing a blast of convexity at Spyro. Spyro dodged and countered with a blast of fire. The flames hit Dark Spyro directly, only for the flamers to not even harm him. "Hah...You cannot defeat me so easily." Dark Spyro taunted.

Spyro thought carefully. If this really was his dark side, he'd have all the same powers that he did. That would also mean his ego would probably be larger as well as a strong will to fight as hard as he could. "Let's make it interesting," said Spyro, "No more breath attacks. We fight physically; claws and fangs, strength against strength."

Dark Spyro smirked "And why should I fight fair?" he said before attempting to blast Spyro again. Spyro dodged and rolled along the ground until he was close to his double. "The same reason I should fight fair," said Spyro before aiming a slash at his rival's eyes.

Dark Spyro roared, rearing back with several neat slash scars on his face now. "You'll pay for that." he said before saying "Its so sad what happened to Cynder, isn't it?" he taunted.

"As if you care," said Spyro, "You're probably glad that it happened." "Oh no, I found her company quite pleasing...though I was only...what does your human friend call it...a 'back seat driver'?" said Dark Spyro as the two adversaries circled.

"And you'll remain that way as long as I'm here," said Spyro. "Well, we'll have to fix that, won't we?" said Dark Spyro, grinning nastily. With those words, Dark Spyro leapt at Spyro, the two rolling across the arena until Spyro was stuck locking eyes with his dark counterpart. A dark mist began to flow onto Spyro.

Back in the real world, Spyro made a weak groan in his sleep and his scapes started to darken. Matt snapped at this "Dammit, this isn't some shar khan test. Are you sure there is no way to help?"

"Unless you're capable of astral projecting, I very much doubt it," said Gemmenite. "What about how Chloe got into my head last year when Draconus took control?" said Matt. Gemmenite pondered that for a few seconds and said, "That could work, however, you are aware of the potential consequences of that spell, correct?" "Chloe told me what Draconus tried to do. If the body or dream self dies, its game over." said Matt.

"Right," said Gemmenite, "So it should not be considered lightly." "He did the same for me...so I owe him one." said Matt, before turning to the other present members of his crew. "Nobody has to come." he said. "I can't come anyways," said Morph, "I'm not allowed in other people's dreams, court order." Chloe stepped forward. "I'm definately coming...you need a chaperone." she said.

"I might come, but knowing me, I'd just make the nightmare worse," said NegaMorph. "Someone needs to stay and make sure Dark Spyro doesn't try to do what Draconus did." said Matt. "I shall stay here," said Morgan, "I should be able to restrain Dark Spyro enough, at least enough for additional help to step in."

"Ok...So, how does this wo...?" began Matt before Gemmenite sent the spell at him and Chloe, knocking them both out.

Back in Spyro's dream, Spyro felt like his strength was being drained away. "Don't worry. I'll look after Cynder." taunted Dark Spyro, before a plasma and lightning bolt sent him flying.

Spyro looked up to see Matt and Chloe standing there. "Figures she'd use that same spell," said Matt. "What same spell?" asked Chloe. "I'll tell you later," said Matt. Dark Spyro got up, hardly damaged. "Huh...calling for back up. Can't face me yourself, you weakling?" he said.

"Oh, we're mostly referees," said Chloe. Dark Spyro snarled and streamed a beam of Convexity in the ground in front of the Lynches, making a barrier. Then he turned to his benevolent counterpart and said, "Let's have no more interference, shall we?"

He got a shock shortly after as Spyro had already got a run-up and he was in time to see Spyro tackle him. Again they were sent rolling across the arena, almost over the edge of the pit Dark Spyro had made.

Spyro spotted the oncoming edge of the pit and dug his claws into the ground to stop the rolling. Dark Spyro rolled over the edge though. Matt and Chloe finally decided to abandon pretence, turning dragon to clear the pit and changing back to grab Spyro's forearms.

However, thought Spyro was not quite adult-size yet, he was still pretty heavy for a human to lift, genetic enhancing or not. However an extra weight was because Dark Spyro was holding onto Spyro's tail, a look of fear on his face.

It was all Matt could do to keep himself from falling down, let alone pull the dragons back up. "Chloe, a little help?" he said in a strained voice. Chloe grabbed Spyro's other arm. Dark Spyro however said "Please...don't let me fall...you can't exist without me." he said in a fearful voice.

Matt considered for a minute. If this was like the Shar-Khan test, then Dark Spyro's death would mean that Spyro would become corrupted. However, full-blooded dragons' corruption tests might work differently from part-dragon's.

However the simple fact was that with Dark Spyro's weight added to Spyro, meant that they wouldn't be able to hold onto him. Already their grip on Spyro was slipping.

"If one of you started flying, that'd be really appreciative," called Chloe. Dark Spyro's gaze darkened. "If I go, I'm taking him with me." he said and started to claw his way up.

Of course, this concentrated the amount of weight, causing Matt and Chloe to skid forward slightly as they were being dragged closer to the edge. "If I go, you all go with me...your friends will die, Spyro." said Dark Spyro, coldly.

Spyro glared back at his dark doppleganger and said, "No, no one dies because of you, today or evermore." He then shook his body, nearly taking Matt and Chloe over the edge, but it had the effect of making Dark Spyro lose his grip.

Matt and Chloe pulled Spyro up and looked down to see Dark Spyro falling into the pit. After a minute, cracks of light seemed to appear over Dark Spyro before he exploded into a black mass of energy that shot back into Spyro.

Matt and Chloe braced themselves for Spyro to turn dark and turn on them, but nothing seemed to happen. "I...I can feel him there...but he's no longer on control." Spyro said thoughtfully before adding "...and he never will be again."

The Lynch siblings said nothing for a while before Matt piped, "Good, now, how do we get out of here?"

Darkans However was not having a good day. Cynder had proved extremely resilient to his corruption and Malefor as he was, wasn't in any state to offer any advice. "If I have to put up with her smartass attitude one more time, I'll..." he muttered before a voice said "...or what, Darkans?" Darkans span to see "Lord Xodrin." he whimpered.

"Er, I'm so relieved to see that you're alive and well," said Darkans. "You left me to rot in that clammy worm dungeon," growled Xodrin. Darkans backed up, nervously. "Erm...what you gonna do?" he whimpered. Xodrin walked forward with his ion blade out then said "Well...I'm pleased I taught you so well." he said with a grin before looking at Darkans. "A war leader now, I see. I wondered who the council would send to secure the gates opening." he said.

"Yes, I did have to flee in order to amass our army. The Council decreed it," said Darkans, "After all, in your absence, someone had to take command." Xodrin may not have been a mercenary, but his bullshit detector was going off the scale. "How pathetic," he said, slamming Darkans into a wall before grabbing him tightly by the neck.

Darkans gasped for air. "I assure you...there was no time to get you out." he said in a choking voice. Xodrin turned to see the heartless Malefor come in. Xodrin grinned "Now thats impressive. Your own work?" he said, loosening his grip enough to allow Darkans to speak.

"Yes, one of the most powerful dragons on Avalar, completely ours to command," said Darkans. "I presume you made sure his heart did not presume a Nobody. From what I hear, the Thirteen are still around...the last we want is more running around." said Xodrin, walking around Malefor who was standing there like a robot awaiting another order.

Darkans' smiled faltered for a microsecond but he quickly said, "Of course, I made sure there wasn't any Nobody formed. What kind of Armethian would I be if I didn't make sure of such?"

Xodrin sighed "You know that you're a very bad liar." he said, pinning Darkansa again. "I met one of your enemies and got a good look at his memories. I presume you have corrupted Miss Cynder?"

"Er, I'm working on it," squeaked Darkans. "How disappointing," said Xodrin, tossing Darkans aside, "Even in captivity, there's no true command but mine." "First off, you are thinking small. Did you not look at her past memories? She is far more useful with just a personality adjustment." said Xodrin, adding "Show me to her."

Darkans led his commander to the cell in which he had been keeping Cynder in. Cynder turned to look at them. She had been chained in place with 4 Dark one warriors constantly aiming at her. "Who's the new guy?" she said and went wide eyed in pain as Xodrin sent a blast of the lightning to arc around her head. "Your new master, thats who." said Xodrin, smirking.

**Oh no. A dark one warleader on the loose and it looks like Cynders in trouble. Tune in next time.**


	9. Darkest Hour pt 1

**Draco, Contrinus, Chip and Cydra are property of my co-author, Cydra. **

**Matt, his merc team, the NSC and related tech, the ancients/atlanteans and malefors dragon generals are mine.**

**CPS Chronicles**

**Soulless Abyss**

**Chapter 9: Darkest Hour pt 1**

Xodrin taking command made a lot of difference towards the Heartless' battle tactics. Instead of doing sneak attacks, they were now amassing in large assault forces. His most recent target was the cheetah village Hunter called home and he seemed intent on making sure resistance was crushed quickly and efficiently.

Nearly a hundred Dark one warriors were attacking the village, ignoring everything Matt's crew could throw at them, be they armour piercing rounds or high explosives. Spyro and Matt had suffered trouble convincing them to leave...till the first dark one fighters had lit up the sky.

It was mercifully fortunate that they had been able to get the women and children away before the fighting started. However the evacuation was still not over and the Bladestorm only had so many dropships to spare. Families were being herded as fast as they could go onto a few dropships that could be spared, despite the flashes beyond the wooden walls and the constant machinegun and particle rifle fire.

"Isn't there some place the citizens could hide until more ships arrive?" asked Matt as he hurdled another plasma orb into the Heartless mass. His men were holding the gates as best they could but they only had so many positron lasers. "They cut off the waterfall caves the first chance they had." said Techo, adding "Where the hells Spyro?" A fireball shot down and hit a dark one warrior and Spyro flew overhead.

"Well, that's good, but we'll still need more firepower to get through all these things," said Techo. "We don't have it, thats the trouble." said Matt, before listening to his comm. "This is Eagle 2...coming in for the last load." said a dropship pilot. "About time...we can't hold the gates any longer." said a marine before a dark one warrior blew a hole in his chest.

Techo swore and said, "What about the blob brothers. Don't those key things cut through these things like butter?" "Numbers win every time." said Matt, before looking up to see Eagle 2's pelican dropship fly overhead. Unfortunately two dark one 'dart' fighters had also seen the dropship and fired a hail of bolts into its side. The pelican spiralled out of control to plow into a row of empty hutsd and explode. "Pull back...we can't hold the gates." said Techo as another marine was shot.

"We're losing too much ground," said Matt, "They'll have this village within an hour." "Shorter then that. We gotta go." said Techo. Spyro landed behind them. "There's more coming up the valley." he said. More fighters could also be seen in the distance, like a flock of bats.

The first warriors could be seen walking around the corner when the clouds spit and two golden orbs slammed down into them with a deafening explosion. The fighters approaching attempted to scatter as a storm of neon green beams sliced into them and a cluster of new fighters shot down to fire.

"Ok, we're not doomed," said Matt. Another hail of blasts cleared away the last of the cloud cover to reveal a combine ship hovering in place. "Can I rephase that?" said Matt weakly.

"Don't think you have to," said Techo, "Look!" He pointed at the side of the ship where a faction symbol was painted on. "The HQF...About smegging time." said Matt. Spyro looked to see several more dropships firing on the now retreating dark ones. "These are the guys Wilson called for?" he said.

Matt nodded and said, "And in the nick of time too."

The HQF troopers were quick to clear out the area and before long their leader wanted to see Matt and Chloe. "Commander Ashen. Heartless Quarantine Force." he said. The Lynches quickly noticed he was wearing a Combine naval uniform.

Matt had to remind himself that the HQF was a united force between NSC, Combine, and Splitter and he should shove down his personal feelings regarding the Combine. "Glad you could get here," said Matt.

"I'm glad to see you mercenaries could swallow your pride for once and call the professionals in for once." said Ashen, rudely. "Well, we were able to handle it before, but then the Heartless started amping up their numbers," said Matt.

"...And their firepower too from what my teams tell me." said Ashen. "I'm still going over the data but your friends should prepare for possible re-location." he added, in time for Spyro to hear as he came in.

"Wait, what do you mean re-location?" demanded Spyro. "Mr...Spyro is it? My men cannot deal with infections this big. I am not going to throw my men into a meat grinder." said Ashen, his tone growing ice cold.

Spyro glared back at him and said, "This is our home and we will fight to defend it." "Your people will be overwhelmed." said Ashen, adding "My men will re-locate you for your own good..." The tone of the last part indicated that it would be done regardless of the locals opinion on the matter.

"Hang on a minute," said Matt, "The keyhole here has been sealed. The Heartless can't completely take this place. There's a chance they don't have to move." Achen glared "The ones that escaped went somewhere." he said angrily before looking at Matt. "You're in enough trouble as it is."

Matt glared back and said, "We're not giving up yet. If you think it'll be too dangerous, fine. But it's not over until the fat lady sings." "My men have a duty to exterminate the heartless where they are found...we wouldn't have left anyway." said Achen.

Later at Warfang, the gang was not in a good mood. Not only did they have to be saved by the HQF, but Achen thoroughly chewed Matt out for 'letting this get out of hand'.

"So thats it...game over." said Techo, gloomily. He had been working on the data crystal they had recovered a week ago to try and work out what they had to do. "Its all bloody gibberish. Talking about lighting the ring of the outsiders at the ultimate price." he said annoyed. "Fat lot of help that gives us," said Chloe, "Why don't they ever speak straight?"

Matt sighed "Its probably an universal law." he said gloomily. "How are we going to stop the Heartless now?" asked Spyro, "With Xodrin probably commanding them, they're a greater threat than ever."

"Yeah..." said Techo. "Plus I don't like the sound of 'ultimate price' unless Matt has to finally pay for all the damages he's caused over the years." he added in an attempt to lighted the mood.

Matt wasn't even in good enough a mood to hit Techo. "We're royally screwed," he said, putting his head between his hands. "What about that prophecy thing? WARDEN says that whatever's appearing is a ring." said Chloe. Matt snorted and said "Great...dragons in space." sarcastically.

"Uh, wouldn't you count as dragons in space?" asked NegaMorph. Matt did blast Negamorph at this point and continued "Well...we have to at least give Ashen the data we do know...not all of it, of course but he has more experience with heartless." he said reluctantly.

"What makes you think he'll look at it?" said Contrinus. "Because despite being a smeghead, he's a professional...or at least I hope he is." said Matt. "So, in the case he isn't all professional, do we have a Plan B?" asked Chip. "We do it ourselves." said Matt.

Ashen was somewhat dubious about the contents of the data crystal, but decided it was worth investigating nonetheless. "It'll take time to translate, giving the ancient nature of these glyphs," he said.

Matt glared "We've done some of the translation." he said. Sshen waved a hand dismissively. "Yes, yes. From what you've translated it seems to say that ring station we passed on the way in is the key to this mess...and only a purple dragon can do it. My staff say it translates as 'dragon of destiny'."

"Uh, could you repeat the part about the ring station?" asked Matt. Ashen slid over a image taken from one of his fleet ships. "Its 12 miles wide from end to end. What data we managed to gather indicate its building a charge." he said before adding "Its an atlantean jump gate."

"You haven't finished translating it," said Matt. Ashen scoffed and said, "It's just some ancient mumbo jumbo, nothing worth looking at." "No, it's Ancient mumbo jumbo," pointed out Matt.

"Same thing. Have your team ready to leave. Their work is done and only bother me again if you have proper information." said Ashen, nodding to two guards.

A few seconds later, Matt was thrown out of Ashen's office. Morgan was apparently waiting to see Ashen and sidestepped Matt as he flew out. "That went well," he said sarcastically. "Eh, I've been thrown out of bigger jerk's offices," said Matt as he got back up.

"I could not help but overhear. This Ashen person is making a fatal mistake, thinking he can complete a puzzle with half the pieces." he said and stepped back from Matts glare. "Don't you start with the riddles." said Matt.

"If I were you, I'd go for the one person on this planet who'd know the most about the Ancients and their riddles," said Morgan. "And that would be?" asked Matt. "The current Chronicler," said Morgan.

Matt nodded "Worth a try...but I ought to go alone. Ashen wants me and my team out of here and if we suddenly all troops off to the middle of the ocean, he'll get suspicious." he said. "Yeah. Good point. Just cover for me, ok?" siad Matt.

Matt, in his dragon form, flew low over the ocean, the cliffs of the white isle looming ahead. He landed and counted under his breath, getting for three before four of the wyverns that the gang had met last year and helped re-locate to the white isle landed around him.

"Hold your fire, I'm here to see Ignitus," said Matt. "Oh...I remember you. The big mouthed crazy one." said one of the wyverns before leading the way. "Yes...I've been called that," said Matt, trying to retained his frazzled temper.

The wyverns led Matt to the temple that Ignitus, as the chronicler called home. "Mister Lynch. It is good to see you unharmed." he said pleasantly when matt had arrived. "I'd like to talk, but I think you know that it's no time for pleasantries," said Matt. "Indeed. Why have you come here?" asked Ignitus. Matt changed back to human and pulled out the data crystal. "Need a little help with this."

Meanwhile, Xodrin had been busy planning out a strategy to counter the new arrival of the HQF. "Darkans, This 'Quarantine Force' seems like it could be a problem...at least till the portal is opened. Our fleet should be able to handle them...but until then." he said, before saying. "I believe it is time we tested out the loyalty of our new 'help'. This 'Chronicler' could be a thorn if we don't remove him soon. Send someone to make sure he is no longer a problem." he said.

"I have the best soldier in mind for that," said Darkans. "Then do it. I have to prepare...oh and Darkans?" he said. "Yes, master?" said Darkans. Xodrin turned to glare "Don't screw up this time." he said coldly.

An hour later and Matt had a call from the gang. "Ashens finally noticed you're not here. He's gone ballistic." said Chloe. "Oh, what a shame." said Matt, sarcastically. "Better get back here anyways," said Chloe, "The Dark Ones are probably gonna try another attack soon."

"Ok...whats Ashen doing about the ring station?" said Matt. Chloe sighed "His so-called 'experts' think its a DNA lock the ancients made...and they reckon only Spyro can open or close it. Ashen didnt really give the eldars much choice, seeig as he's got a small army with him. I arranged for Techo to tag along just in case."

"Well, if Ignitus is right about that station, that's precisely what we don't want," said Matt. "I don't think Ashen'd listen if you brought him the evidence in the combine councils own writing." said Chloe before sighing. "Morgns taking some of his people up to that lunar colony we found the last time...see if he can't get some of those ships working again."

"I hope they'll get at least some of them working," said Matt, "We'll need all the help we can get." Matt suddenly heard Ignitus calling him. "I'll call back...I think we got something." he said.

"Matt, the prophecy you've managed to gleam is incomplete," said Ignitus, "There is more important things in it." Matt walked up "Tell me its good news." he said sighing.

"The prophecy you found was made by the chronicler of the time. It tells of how the dark ones would return through the device that banished them." said Ignitus grimly. Matt turned pale at those words and turned even more so as Ignitus continued "It also tells how the dragon of destiny will sacrifice himself to banish them again." Matt turned and headed for the exit.

"Where are you going?" called Ignitus. "To stop that jerk Ashen from making a terrible mistake," called Matt as he was about to open the door. However, the door was blasted off its hinges and into the opposite wall, with Matt still behind it.

Matt was thrown back and hit Ignitus hard. Three Dark one warriors marched into the room and began spraying energy bolts at Ignitus, only for him to make them stop dead in the air. "You are not welcome here." roared Ignitus.

"Ignitus, I'm hurt," said a cold voice. A second later, a dark dragoness stepped through the doorway and said, "I thought I was one of your favourites." Matt staggered up a little unsteadily as Ignitus backed up and then noticed why. It was Cynder, in her adult form. "Cynder? Why are you shooting at us? That hurt." he said.

"Oh really? It was only supposed to tickle," said Cynder sarcastically. "By the way...why are you hanging out with those guys?" he said, pointing at the warriors. It was worth noting that the explosion in Matts face meant he was a few seconds behind events. The four warriors aimed at him at that.

"These are my minions," said Cynder, "They follow all of my commands. For example: kill the biped." "Oh...well, shit." said Matt, before throwing a plasma ball at the first warrior and running down one of the book avenues with the warriors in pursuit.

Fortunately, the warriors had more sense to fire while they were in single fire, however the one in the front was taking potshots at Matt. "No shooting in the library!" shouted Matt.

He came to a stop at a dead end suddenly and turned to see the warriors aim at him. "I did say no shooting in the library." The warriors looked at each other and then aimed. Matt looked up and said "Sorry, Ignitus." and kicked one of the bookshelves, making about 500 books land on the warriors.

It should be noted that a bookshelf filled with 500 books would be enough to crush almost any creature. The warriors only barely survived, but they were completely pinned.

Matt walked by them. "Remember...libraries are dangerous places." he taunted then legged it when one of the warriors almost got free before another 20 books fell down.

Meanwhile, Cynder and Ignitus were circling each other. "Cynder, this is not the real you," said Ignitus, "Your true self is buried deep under your dark feelings and twisted memories. Look to your heart to discover your real self."

Cynder hissed and said, "I've got better things to do today than to listen to the prattlings of an old drake." Matt ran round the corner as Cynder and Ignitus lunged at each other. "Wow." he said, readying a low level plasma ball to try and stun Cynder.

Ignitus may be an old dragon, but he clearly hasn't lost any of his touch. If Cynder thought she was in for an easy victory, she was sorely disappointed. "You've improved since we last fought." she said, backing up. Matt was still trying to get a shot. "Whatever Darkans told you, its a lie. Spyro's going nuts worrying about you." he said carefully.

"Spryo?" snorted Cynder, "I'd like to show him his own lungs and I'll do so as soon as I'm done with this old codger." Matt was actually surprised at this and said "He misses you."

"And I miss him like a bad stitch in my side," said Cynder sarcastically, "Now stop your pathetic 'reasoning' and I'll get to you next." "I'm afraid the Dark Ones have too great a grip on her for words alone to overcome," said Ignitus. "Lets try plan B then." said Matt and sent a blast of plasma at her.

Cynder didn't expect the attack and was knocked onto her side. Matt looked at Ignitus. "Can you knock her out or something?" he said, using what looked like a field of plasma to hold her in place and struggling to do so.

"Indeed I can, but she won't wake for a while," said Ignitus. "Then...do it." struggled Matt before Cynder blasted the energy field holding her aside. Ignitus was about to start when Cynder spread her wings and leaped out the window.

Matt was about to change to dragon to give pursuit when the warriors from earlier came round the corner. Matt turned to glare at them, the rounds from their blasts bouncing around him and was about to use his fury when Ignitus beat him to it, sending an invisible shape at the warriors. When it hit, the warriors collapsed into dust, their armour covered in rust.

Matt paused and asked, "What did you do to them?" "The Chronicler has the ability to manipulate time," said Ignitus, "Mostly, it's for view parts of the past, present, and future to record, but it can be used offensively."

Matt picked up a twisted blaster. "I can see that." he said before remembering he had to call Ashen. However when he called, all he got was one of Ashen's fleet captains, an NSC captain called Robbins. Luckily, Robbins had obviously been born with common sense and listened. However he also had bad news...

Chloe hadn't been that successful with negotiating with Ashen. Best she could get was that Spyro would go to the ring station. on the Bladestorm. Spyro, unlike Cynder had not been into space before. Techo was checking the 'orders' they'd got. "Look. You'll be fine, mate." he said in a friendly voice. "I'll be tagging along. According to this you just gotta put your paw on the controls to turn it on and then I set it to explode."

"Are you certain that it will stop the Dark Ones?" asked Spyro. "Not at all," said Techo, "But we've got little choice in it." Chloe said "That idiot, Achen is convinced he's right...but unfortunately he's got more guns then us."

"If something bad happens to us and we somehow survive, I reserve the chance to kick his butt," said Techo. "Get in line, there's a growing list forming," said Chloe. WARDEN appeared. "We are at the location. I still feel we should relieve Ashen of his commend on the grounds that he is a moron." said the hologram in a serious voice.

"That list's bigger than I thought," commented Chloe. Spyro however was looking out the porthole. The ring itself was not technically a ring, with several spires sticking out from the main section and a small tower sticking out the top. Ashens voice came over the comm. "Miss Lynch? Is that wyrm ready to go?"

Chloe glared at the comm. and said, "Watch it, buster. It's a very bad idea to call dragons 'wyrms'." She paused and thought for a second and said, "Well, you could probably apply it Ghoulwyrm or Omnirus, but it's generally taboo."

"I don't care. Get that portal sealed now." said Ashen, before cutting the comm. Chloe looked to see several battlecruiser turning up. "Do you get the feeling that he's not confident in this plan?" she said. "He's probably less bravado that he tries to appear to be," said Techo.

WARDEN said "Stand by. The teleporter should be functional this time." Spyro and Techo exchanged a worried glance and Techo managed to say "We're happy to take the shutt..." before he and Spyro vanished.

They re-appeared in a dark room. Techo said "Are we still in one piece?" Spyro was shuddering for a second, but regained his composure. "That wasn't as bad as Volteer's teleportation spell."

"True...but you didn't see the tests earlier though." said Techo before walking over to a console and looking up and saying "Bloody hell." Spyro turned to see a large window showing the HQF fleet arrayed in front of them against the outline of the local star. "Now thats impressive." said Techo.

"Is it really that serious?" asked Spyro. "I dunno...but then again...heartless don't have armoured troopers and air fighters." said Techo, before pulling a panel off to reveal several crystals. "Lets see if e can get this turned on." he said.

Techo placed his hand on one of the crystals and it lit up, soon followed by the others.

Meanwhile, Matt had been able to convince Robbins to take him in his ship and the two of them were heading for the ring station. Robbins said "Ashen'll eat my captains license for this if you're wrong." Matt said grimly "I have this on good authority." A ensign said "We're arriving." A second later the ring blockade came into view...shortly followed by Ashens furious gaze on the comm screen.

"Robbins, what is the meaning of this?" snapped Ashen. "Captain Lynch has important informa..." began Robbins before Matt said "You can't send anyone to that ring."

"What's gonna happen? Is it going to blow up?" asked Ashen sarcastically. "Its a damn artificial Keyhole, you idiot." snapped Matt. A crewman leaned in on Ashen's end and whispered something to him. At the same time. one of Robbon's crew said "Sir...picking up an energy spike from the ring."

Techo jumped back as every crystal on the controls turned red. "Thats not good." The room began to shake as more lights lit up. "Definately not good." Repeated Techo. "You think we should leave now?" asked Spyro.

Techo reached for the return beacon, to teleport them back. However before he could reach where he had left it, a short from a power crystal cause d ashower of sparks to shoot from it. The shaking was now very violent now.

Matt watched as the ring station started to light up. "Oh, that's not good," he said. Robbins said "Commander, Ashen...do you see this?" Ashens voice said "Confirms. All fleet stand by." Chloe's voice chimed in. "We have to get out of here. 12 ships will not be enough..." before being cut off by Ashen saying "Stay off the comm." Suddenly a portal flared into life inside the ring, a multicoloured void visible beyond.

Matt turned to Robbins and said, "Which would you want to avoid least: Ashen's wrath or certain doom emerging from that portal?" "Ensign, stand by to jump to Avalar orbit on my..." he said and stopped. The same silence fell over the rest of the bridge crew as a huge ship slowly flew out of the portal. The ships design and hull made it seem worryingly organic, like it was less a ship and more a living thing. A second ship, resembling a nightmarish spider flew out and took up station beside the first...followed by another.

"Ok, I'm gonna jump the gun and assume those ships are hostile," said Matt. "Incoming comm...its fleet wide." said an ensign. A distorted voice came over the comm. "I am lord Xodrin of the Amethean Navy. You and your people have held our property for too long. You will surrender immediately or face the...brief consequences." said the voice.

Ashen's voice came back on. "I am Commander Ashen of the Heartless Quarantine Force. You are in violation of NSC territory. You will return to your dimension or face the consequences."

Xodrin's voice replied, "I believe you are confused about whose territory you're on. Allow me to enlighten you." With that, Ashen broke contact. On Ashen's ship a ensign reported "Commander? The ships are charging weapons." Ashen said "All ships: Fire at will."

At those words the entire fleet opened up with a hail of railgun rounds, missiles and the neon green beams of the present Combine ships. The weapon however all appeared to bounce off the shields of the new ships.

After a minute of this futile onslaught, the lead ships front glowed and a purple blast shot out and hit a combine ship dead center, plowing through its shields and blowing it apart. A second later a beam flared against the shields of the bladestorm and robbons's ship, the Abbadon.

Aboard Robbins ship, the overcharge caused several consoles to explode and several wall conduits to also blow apart. "I hate to be called the coward here, but I think this is a good excuse to retreat," said Matt.

"We lost the jump drive in that last hit." yelled a ensign as crew ran around attempting to put out the fires or handle the multiple damage reports coming in. Another beam sliced into a splitter consortium gunship, blowing it in half.

"Well find another way to get us out of here!" shouted Matt, "Reverse thrusters, escape pods, anything!" "Keep firing. If we don't stop them here, where will we?" yelled Robbins angrily. Another console exploded, killing the ensign at the controls.

The bladestorm was in worse shape then the Abbadon. "Get Spyro and Techo out of there, now." yelled Chloe, the bridge in chaos. WARDEN said "Teleporter array is disabled. Hull breach on Deck 15." he said in his monotone voice.

"Great, I suppose this mean we'll have to go out there and get them ourselves," said Chris. A crewmember said "Ma'am. Incoming ships." Chloe looked to see a jump point open and three ships similar to the Nighthawk appear and start firing on the four Dark one ships. Morgans holo appeared on the comm screen. "Sorry we're late. I had trouble getting some crew together and getting them to the lunar base." Chloe grinned "Better late then never."

Another HQF ship was blown up in a big explosion. "Looks like we've got our evacuation work cut out for us," said Morgan. A second beam hit one of the nighthawk ships, blowing it apart. Chloe noticed with horror that the new helps weapons were having as little effect as the HQF's.

Matt yelled over the noise at Robbins. "I'm gonna lead some starfuries...draw some fire so we can get outta here." Robbins said "Are you nuts? Starfuries'll have no effect against that."

"No, but they'll at least buy time to get us out of here," said Matt.

On the station, Techo and Spyro had been able to hack into the comm channels using the systems but could only listen. As they watched, two ships turned their cannons on the abbadon, blowing it in half.

"There's got to be something we can do to help them," said Spyro. Techo shook his head. "With what?" he said in a small voice. The dark one ships had stopped firing...no return fire was shot at them.

On the lead ship, Xodrin watched as the last HQF ship was disabled. "Hmm...see, my dear? Sometimes it pays to be on the winning team." Cynder smirked and said, "Yes, I was a fool to want to be with those fools." Cynder watched as a piece of wreckage flew by, revealing a ship with 'Bladestorm' on the side, still partially active.

Cynder opened her mouth to point out that Xodrin missed a ship, but something kept her tongue from moving. Something inside her that prevent her from speaking out against her 'enemies'.

Xodrin turned and said "Is there something?" Cynder closed her mouth for a second before saying "Its nothing...nothing at all." Xodrin smirked "Fine...it is time our race claimed a new home..."

**End of pt 1**

**This doesn't look good. The Dark Ones are out and heading for Avalar with the intent of taking over. Is this game over for our heroes? (R&R please)**

**Disclaimer: The battle towards the end of this chapter was heavily inspired by the battle from the Stargate: SG1 episode 'Camelot'.  
**


	10. Darkest Hour pt 2

**Draco, Contrinus, Chip and Cydra are property of my co-author, Cydra. **

**Matt, his merc team, the NSC and related tech, the ancients/atlanteans and malefors dragon generals are mine.**

**CPS Chronicles**

**Soulless Abyss**

**Chapter 10: Darkest Hour pt 2**

Normal

_flashback_

The active ring sat in space, the flowing colours of convexity still visible through it and the surrounding space choked with wreckage. Anyone listening with a radio would have heard a single S.O.S message beeping away...

Techo looked at the beacon he had set up. It was only 20 minutes since the HQF fleet had been torn apart, stranding him and Spyro on the ring stations control tower.

"So what do we do now?" asked Spyro. "Well, unless you can fly through space, which I doubt, we just sit here and hope that someone comes and saves us," said Techo.

Spyro looked gloomily out of the window in time for a piece of starship armour to bounce gently off the viewport. Techo walked up next to him. "Hey...someone'll be along..." he said in a feeble attempt at comfort. "I just hope it won't be one of the Dark Ones," said Spyro.

Techo sighed and walked off before angrily sweeping some of the tools he had placed on a control console across the room, yelling "Goddammit."

As the radio hit the floor, it started producing static before it cleared up to allow the words through, "Hello? Hello? Is anyone out there?" Techo and Spyro looked at each other before Techo gently picked it up and said that months winner for the stupidest response in history. "Who's calling?" he said weakly.

The distortion cleared up and Matt's voice came through clearly "Techo...Is that you?" "Matt? You're still alive?" asked Techo. "No, I'm calling you from the afterlife. OF COURSE I'M ALIVE!" snapped Matt. Spyro looked out the window and said "Where are you?"

Matt looked at the flickering controls of the Starfury he was sitting in. "Oh, just hanging around outside...taking in the sights...you know how it is." he said. Matt said "Almost didn't..."

**Flashback**

_Matt yelled over the noise at Robbins. "I'm gonna lead some starfuries...draw some fire so we can get outta here." Robbins said "Are you nuts? Starfuries'll have no effect against that."_

_"No, but they'll at least buy time to get us out of here," said Matt. With that he ran down the corridor towards the Starfury bay._

_When Matt arrived at the bay, it was clear that alot of pilots had a similar idea, pilots scrambling for their starfuries. Matt grabbed a helmet and climbed into a ship. He was on the bay for launch when the ship shook like something had kicked it, knocking alot of the bay personnel down._

_Matt gunned his starfury down the bay as explosions ripped the bay apart. The Starfury flew out and Matt looked at the rear camera to see that the Abbadon had been cut in half by two beams. A second later his ship was sent flying as the Abbadon exploded._

**Present**

"Blast fried my starfuries systems...I don't think anyone else got into the air though." said Matt, finishing his explanation. "So you're stuck drifting?" asked Techo. "Basically..." admitted Matt. Techo sighed "So you're as stuck as we are...thats a fat load of good." he said.

Just then, a third voice came over the comm., "Guys, is that you out there?" Techo looked at the radio. "What are the chances?" he muttered before replying. "Chloe?" "No, its the tooth fairy." said Chloe sarcastically. Techo looked at Spyro and muttered "Well...least we know they're well enough to be smartarses."

"Chloe, you got any power on your side?" asked Matt.

Aboard the Bladestorm, it was minor chaos. The bridge itself was a mess. Chloe was sat at a intact console. "Barely. We got damage on all decks and most of our systems are toast. We're working on getting the teleporter working again." she said.

"So you're stuck drifting too?" asked Matt. "We've got sub-light but the jumpdrives so much scrap..." said Chloe. WARDEN could be seen conversing with Chip, working on getting the teleporter working without it having any nasty side effects.

"I can probably coax a few minutes thrust from the fury...enough to dock up. I think I spotted you now." said Matt's voice. Just then, another voice came over the comm., "Hello, I'd like to order a large pizza with extra cheese, olives, anchovies, gumdrops, bacon, not Canadian..."

Chloe glared and yelled down the comm. "MORPH...GET OFF THE RADIO BEFORE I MAKE YOU EAT IT!" "Chloe? Since when did you work at Dominos?" asked Morph. Chloe's eye began to twitch violently. "Morph...get off the radio...NOW!" she yelled before sending a arc of lightning down the comm to Morph for good measure.

"But I was hungry," moaned Morph before hanging up. "Was that Morph?" asked Spyro's voice. "Yes, it was." sighed Chloe. WARDEN flickered for a second. "Miss Lynch. The captains Starfury has...well, I say docked but he landed it upside down." he said

Chloe shrugged and said, "Well, at least he's latched on. Let him in." There was a slight yelp over the comm as Matt apparently fell into the docking bay.

Back at the station, Techo was a bit nervous. "Ok...so...how much progress has WARDEN and Chip made of the teleporter?" he said. "Oh, we've tested it," said WARDEN, "But unfortunately, Sparx was in the same booth so it got rather messy."

Spyro and Techo exchanged a look and Techo said "We don't mind waiting." Spyro managed to say weakly. "Tell me that was a joke." Then two voices was heard laughing on the other end and they heard Chip saying, "Oh, he got you good didn't he? I told you they'd fall for it."

Spyro and Techo glared at the comm. Techo said "Hey, Spyro. Wanna know how to reprogram a CPU with a pickaxe?" "Sheesh, some people can't value comedy relief," said Chip, "We'll have you beamed over soon. Make sure you're not touching each other or you could wind up in each other's body." There was a brief pause before Chip said, "That wasn't a joke."

Spyro and Techo immediately backed away from each other. WARDEN's voice was heard counting down. "Erm...you sure this'll work?" said Techo. Chip said "I'd say 90% confident." Techo managed the beginning of a swearword before the control room lit up, the teleporter beam carrying away Spyro and Techo.

Techo's vision came back to show he was intact. "Nnnngh." he managed. "I knew it would work," said Chip, "You guys are alright, but you might be slightly disorientated for a bit." Spyro looked like he had been span round at high speed for an hour. "Bleh?" he said, dizzily.

"Take it easy, your stomachs probably won't have settled well after being de-moleculed," said Chip. Techo tried to step towards Chip with violence in mind and managed to get two steps before running out of feet.

A little while later, the gang were having a small war council. "Well, what are our options?" asked Matt, "And don't tell me 'turn around and fly back to our galaxy', we're not abandoning those people down there."

Chris didn't look happy with that but said "What'll we fight those Dark One ships with...harsh language? The ships barely holding together." "Well, how good are their ground forces now?" asked Spyro.

"They won't need much. They just bombard their targets into submission from orbit." said Techo, grimly. "And I've checked their software as best as I could," said Chip, "These guys are unhackable."

A crewman came in. "Sir? We getting a life reading from one of the wrecked ships." he said. "Which one is it?" asked Matt. "I believe it's the one that had Capt. Morgan in it," said the crewman.

Morgan was not the only survivor. Several other atlanteans, not Shar Khan, had survived. Morgan just looked grim. "This should not have happened." he said simply.

"I don't suppose there's any records of an invasion force like this being repelled, is there?" said Matt. "The ships I brought should have done the job." said Morgan, sadly. "Well, we're screwed," said Chris, "Not like we can throw that station into reverse and suck them all back in."

Morgan looked hopeful at that. "You might be onto something. There must have been some kind of remote system in place...oh no." he said. "What? What is it?" asked Chip.

"If it is anywhere, it will be the ruins of Sor'thon Colony...where the colonial archives were once located. The council would have placed it there to take advantage of the archive defence systems." said Morgan. "Oh, right, the defence systems," said Matt, a little uneasily.

Morgan said "Mr Lynch told me what happened during his first month here. The control facility will still be intact...however..." Matt finished "...there's a small army between us that there." He looked at Spyro and remembered what the prophecy had said.

"The rest of the prophecy on that crystal, it said that the Dark Ones would be banished by the way they came here," said Matt. Spyro nodded "There must be some way we can get there."

"You really think there's a reverse switch on that station?" asked Chris. "Not the station," said Matt, "I mean the place where all this started in the first place: that arc in the catacombs."

Morgan nodded "The device mentioned is probably a backup system to whatever Kai destroyed in her escape. We simply activate it and it will do the rest." he said. "Problem is that the catacombs is probably crawling with Heartless now," said Chip.

"The device we want can be found in the colony...in a exit into the catacombs. The colonists probably collapsed it from the main sections millennia ago." said Morgan. "We cannot fly there in this ship...your...'Nighthawk' should be sufficient."

"I'm a little worried about the guys back down at Warfang," said Chloe. Morgan said "The ring was designed to strip corruption as well as remove the dark ones. If we activate it, they will be returned."

"We probably ought to try to get communication down there to be sure," said Chloe, "Those Keyblades would sure come in handy right now." Spyro looked worried, obviously worrying for his friends in Warfang. Matt said "I'm sure the eldars got everyone out in time."

"Well, are we just gonna sit up here worrying or are we gonna go down there and do something?" asked Morph. The others turned and looked at Morph. "How'd you get on the Bladestorm?" asked Techo. "I'm on the Bladestorm?" asked Morph. Matt sighed and said "Where do you think you are?"

"I dunno, I was fiddling with a bunch of crystals to get pizza and, poof, I'm here," said Morph. It was Morgans turn to sigh. "I did tell you that teleporter crystals cannot be used for...what did you call it?...Take out?" "Well, you try finding good pizza in Warfang," said Morph. Spyro said "Whats Pizza?"

"Ok, so here's the plan," said Morgan, "We have two possible solutions to this ordeal. One: we can send a group to get help from the NSC, or two: we use the Nighthawk to get onto Avalar and activate that arc. I propose we split into two teams so we can accomplish one goal if the other fails."

The group all nodded. Nobody voiced the opiniuon that if the arc plan failed, the NSC wouldn;t stand a chance.

Spyro watched through a window in the Nighthawk as the Bladestorm limped into Nullspace. He looked over at Chloe. "Is something wrong? I get the feeling that you know something you don't want to tell me." he said. Chloe didn;t answer. She had gotten the full prophecy from Matt.

"I'm just...worried about if Xodrin has any special forces waiting for us," Chloe half-lied. "Morgan said that even he isn't sure." said Spyro before saying "He saw Cynder...didn't he."

"Yes, he did, but Xodrin probably has even worse monsters," said Chloe. Spyro was just silent for a minute before saying. "I failed her." dully. "No you haven't," said Chloe, "And if you say that one more time, I'm throwing you into the mouth of the nearest Heartless that's big enough." Spyro jumped back at that, a look of shock on his face as Chloe carried on.

"Ever since you lost Cynder it's been 'oh, I've failed her' or 'oh, poor Cynder'. Have you ever considered for a second that other people have been suffering as well? I miss her too, but reiterating that she's gone doesn't change jack-squat. So either make yourself useful and do something that could help us or shut up completely."

Spyro growled before sighing. "You're right. If the arcs activated, she'll be ok." he said. Chloe smiled "Thats right...now lets go get ready." she said.

Xodrin looked around the deserted Warfang before looking at Darkans. "I thought you said this was their capitol." he said smoothly. "It is," said Darkans, "This is their homebase and the place where their government works. No other place could be the capitol."

Xodrin nodded to Cynder who moved to block Darkans's escape as Xodrin said "Then where is everyone? You said we would catch them off guard." "I don't know," said Darkans, "Perhaps they've retreated into the catacombs." Xodrins eyes glowed red. "They will not escape presuming you were not foolish enough to fail to block the other catacomb exits." he said.

"Er, of course not," said Darkans, "Besides, the apes would probably have caught them." "You are a fool and a bad liar. Order your men to leave. We will leave this city...but we won't leave it intact. Order your fleet craft to fire once we leave."

Several miles away, the refugees from warfang finished coming out the catacombs and heard several shrieking noises from the direction of Warfang. They could see blue orbs slamming into the unseen city from the sky, columns of smoke rising.

"I had thought our doom would have come at the hands of Malefor," said Cyril, "I would have prefered that. At least Malefor is one of our kind." "It is my belief that they will continue their bombardment to ensure our full eradication," said Volteer. Zara was glaring angrily before looking at the smoke. "We will not go quietly." she snarled.

"I didn't have that in mind either," said NegaMorph, who had been helping the dragons evacuate. Just then, his right arm started to beep. "Uh, could you excuse me for a second?" he said before extending a tracker from his arm.

He walked to a empty area and looked to see an old device that Johnson had made for his web of lies back when he had worked for the empire. He had never used it as he'd never thought Matt would bother with such a subtle device. It was a scanner designed to detect cloaked ships.

He waved it in the air before he picked up a signal. A few seconds later, he had found the Nighthawk flying in cloaked mode. The ship appeared to be heading for where the archive had once stood. "Why head there?" he muttered, before he heard Smoldron say behind him "Head where?"

"The Nighthawk's heading towards the old archive," said NegaMorph, "But what could be of any importance there?" Smoldron was not alone. Sonya, Flame, Ember, and Xephros were also there, Xephros saying "Nothing is there now except ruins.

"Possible, but if that were true, they wouldn't waste time or risk their lives going there," said NegaMorph, "And if that's the case, then they'll probably need help." Flame said "We can't ask the eldars to come with us. The refugees need protection." Sonya said "Then its just us."

"Fine with me, small groups are easier to transport," said NegaMorph as he rolled up his various sleeves, "Panic is inadvisable during the trip and if you barf, well, I'm not sure where it will land." Sonya said "What are you talking abo..." before the ground below the group turned into a shadow portal.

"Screaming makes it hard to concentrate, so if you want to get to the right destination, make as little noise as possible," called NegaMorph before they went in.

Meanwhile, the Nighthawk had landed on an overgrown landing pad near what had been the main street. Morgan was leading the group through the city. A large number of the Bladestorm marines had come as well. "The actual facility will be in the colonies underground." he said.

"Ok, so how do we get down there?" asked Matt. "I can dig down," said Morph as he turned into Digger. Morgan shook his head and walked over to a bunch of vines near a post covered in markings before pulling them away to show a staircase leading down. He noticed their stares and pointed to the post. "Underground access sign." he said.

"Good, now we ought to finish this before-" started Chloe before a black portal appeared above them. They only had time to look up and say, "What the-" before five dragons landed on them, NegaMorph following afterwards. "I told you not to scream," said NegaMorph.

He looked to see the others staring in sheer speechless shock. "Ok...what the hell?" said Techo eventually. "I spotted you guys coming here and knew you were gonna need help," said NegaMorph, "They wanted to come too, which was fine. What wasn't fine was screaming their heads off and throwing off my course."

Sonya said weakly "Travelling that way does that." "Well, maybe you should have stayed back there and egg-sat," said NegaMorph. Sonya said "If we live through this, I'm going to turn you into a snowman." Chloe rubbed her temples and said, "Can we please get on with this before anything else unpredictable happens?"

A marine called out "CONTACT!" and fired at a shape on the top of a building which proved to be a wyvern heartless that quickly flew off south. "Great...everyone stop tempting fate." said Matt.

"Yeah, quit tempting and keep an eye out for watchdogs," said NegaMorph. There was a barking sound and a small pack of Rabid Dog Heartless bounded around the corner. "Ok, didn't mean for that to be so literal," said NegaMorph.

The marines and gang all aimed and blasted the heartless apart. There was so much firepower that there wasn't even a need for positron plasma. "Lets get this done. Who wants to bet that wyvern heartless has gone to snitch on us?" said Matt.

Morgan nodded. "Lynches, Spyro, this way please." he said. "You guys go on down," said Sonya, "We'll hold up the fort up here."

Spyro and the three Shar-Khan walked through the underground. Fortunately, Morgan was very familiar with its layout and there was no worries about getting lost. Matt could not help but notice how much the underground tunnel they were in resembled a metro tunnel. They had even passed a smashed transport pod. Finally Morgan stopped at a appraently innocent wall, before blasting it aside, revealing it was a fake door. The other side was less damaged and could have been fine except for the dust so think it looked like the corridor had been whitewashed.

"Let me guess, this room's never been used," said Matt. "It was probably never needed. This city fell after you took me and the others through the portal to this time." said Morgan. Spyro however said "This is too easy...its never this easy." Chloe nodded "You have a point."

"Yes, I suspect Xodrin will have dispatched a team to take care of anyone who would try to use this room," said Morgan. Matt went ahead and slowly pushed the door at the end open and was nearly blinded. The room was lit up with a red light and all the holo-screens were lit up with the atlantean word for 'Alert'. A large window showed a gigantic crystal reactor beyond. "Wow...and I thought the CPS reactor was big." said Chloe.

"Considering what it's put here to do, I'm not too surprised," said Matt. Morgan nodded and walked over to the main console and began touching the crystals. He finally smiled as the red lights vanished and the screen turned into several different shots of the city above, except for one screen that was obviously a shot from the ring station.

"System powering...we're good." he said before having to jump back as the control practically exploded. The main screen changed to a schematic, showing a flashing red section. "Dammit, I was afraid this would happen." Morgan said. "What happened?" asked Spyro.

"The controls up here are degraded. There's a backup control system down in the reactor room...but if the safeties are damaged...We have to risk it." said Morgan.

Meanwhile, the Wyvern Heartless made it back to Xodrin. It was able to communicate to the Dark One general what it had seen at the old archive. Xodrin was impressed. "Hmm...I guess the atlanteans were not so feeble as I thought they were." he said before turning to Cynder and Malefor. "I have a task for you. I would prefer these...troublemakers surrender. Go and make sure they surrender...if they refuse, we will let them join their wonderful city." he said.

The two corrupted dragons nodded before disappearing through a corridor of darkness. Darkans said "They would not be able to get away from the area in time." only for Xodrin to say "They're easily replaced. Move the fleet into position."

Meanwhile, NegaMorph and the other dragons were keeping an eye out for any more Heartless. A few had attacked, but nothing that couldn't be destroyed with a breath attack.

The marines had set up a blockade across the street, manned with heavy Positron cannons and marines with PRS-50 laser rifles. "Contact. 200 metres." yelled a lookout. 'Contact' was a understatement as two large dragons shapes with numerous dark one warriors could be seen in the fog that had clogged the end of the avenue.

"Here comes the big ones," said NegaMorph as he materialized his Lockblade into his hand. The shapes cleared to show Cynder and a heartless that looked like "Malefor." whimpered Ember.

"Whoa, he really let himself go," said NegaMorph. Chris said "I don't think he's exactly himself...look at his chest.", pointing out the heartless symbol. "Hmm, you'd think he'd end up uglier, if that was possible," said Sonya. "Foolish mortals," called Dark Cynder, "You are given one chance to surrender. It is the only way you will survive."

"Only way we survive, eh?" said NegaMorph as he tapped his Lockblade in though, "I don't think that's true. I'm pretty sure we can survive without your charity, unless you want to put that to the test right now." Dark Cynder glared as Draco yelled "I take it the romance between you and Spyro's over then."

"As if there was any romance at all," said Dark Cynder. "Are you kidding? You and Spyro were-" Draco paused when Chip tapped him on the shoulder. "Don't bother with that," said Chip, "I already heard from Matt, her mind's been twisted so all her relationships are reversed."

Negamorph glared at the dark ones assembled. "We're not surrendering to you or your boss." he yelled. "Then you have chosen extinction," said Dark Cynder before launching a dark fireball at them. The fireball was only to make a point. To the gangs shock, the enemy began to back up. "Oh, this can;t be good." said Techo. Cynder turned and called out with a parting shot. "My master will burn you from orbit."

Up at Xodrin's ship, Xodrin had received Cynder's message. "The enemy has opted for oblivion," he remarked, "Then we shall see that they get it." A dark one nodded and began communicating to the other ships. Xodrin watched with satisfaction as several cruisers moved into position. With his command ship through the portal, other ships had been able to bypass the arc ring, allowing for a large fleet. "Fleet reports ready." said a crew member.

"Excellent," said Xodrin, "Prepare to fire on my-" An explosion outside cut him off and shook the ship slightly. "What in the void?" he yelled, before looking out the main viewport to see what looked like a meteor storm slamming into his fleet, hails of armour piercing missiles. He skimmed the view around to see over 3 dozen large ships appearing through void portals.

Xodrin looked rather annoyed and said, "I had a feeling some rats managed to escape. We'll deal with these nuisances and then get back to the archive." "My lord...new contact...by the void." said a pilot before seeing a much larger portal appearing before a ship rivalling Xodrins ship appeared, the word 'Planet cracker' on the side. It fired a huge blast into a cruiser already damaged from the first hail, blowing it to bits.

"Why are our shields not up yet?" demanded Xodrin. "W-working on it." said a crewman. It was just in time as the planet cracker turned and fired at them next. The ship still shook but the shields just held. "The rats have fangs." said Xodrin before saying "The worms on the planet can wait...crush these newcomers."

Meanwhile, the surface group were having to deal with a wave of Heartless. They were mainly Armored Knights, but they kept coming in mass. They had been cheering at first when the comms had been flooded with NSC fleet command chatter. The cheering had turned to chaos as they had heard Cynder and Malefor roar before the heartless had rushed them. "We don't have enough ammo for this." yelled a marine, before firing a positron heavy round into a cluster of imp heartless, trying to jump the blockade.

"As long as we can hold them off until they get that arc working, that's all the time we'll need," called Chip before sending some viral blasts at some Guard Sentries.

A hail of golden bolts shot across the top of the barricade, killing a couple of marines closely followed. Several dozen dark one warriors were steadily walking towards the barricade, taking advantage that the marines were reloading the positron cannons. "Hey...where are Malefor and Cynder?" said Sonya, sending a icicle through a warrior.

Meanwhile the underground team had gotten to the room where the crystal reactor core was. "Ok, so where's the manual controls for this?" asked Chloe. "There...between the stabilization spires." said Morgan, pointing to a platform between the four crystal columns.

"Ok, so we just throw the switch and send those creeps back where they came from," said Matt, "Why do I get the feeling it won't be that easy." Just then, a little loose rock fell down from the ceiling. Chloe looked up to see Morph falling down and held out her arms to catch him. "Howdy-doo," said Morph.

"The arc is basically a giant reality alternity device. A person has to tell it what to effect and what not to." said Morgan. Chloe gave Morph an annoyed look and said, "What are you doing here?" "Well, I was fighting up there when this big fat Heartless landed on me," said Morph, "Knocked me all the way down here."

The others all looked up in time to see the very same heartless following Morph down before blasting it before it could land. "We have no time to lose. We have to set the reactor to go. Someone has to go to that platform and activate it." said Morgan once they were sure the heartless was toast.

"Well that will be a problem," said a voice. The five of them turned to see Dark Cynder and Malefor's Heartless. "You see, dead worms can't activate anything," said Cynder.

The others all readied to fight but Spyro looked like an internal fight was in progress. Matt couldn't blame him...He'd felt the same when he had aimed at Avarona when she had used Kala's body.

"Hey, why is Malefor all spooky black with yellow eyes?" asked Morph. "Heartless. He finally made a deal with the wrong people." said Matt. Spyro, however said "Cynder...its me, Spyro...please." "Spryo, barely even know that name," said Cynder.

Spyro looked like someone had just punched him in the chest. Morgan said "Do not listen...that is not your Cynder...it is a twisted version created by the dark ones corruption." he said.

"Besides, I think those guys are scarier than her," said Morph, pointing at the Dark One warriors that have appeared besides the corrupted dragons. Malefor actually spoke in an echoing voice. "Surrender your lives or perish." Matt, unable to resist said "Oh...the giant gecko speaks."

"Frankly, I didn't think he'd be able to talk," admitted Morgan. "I vote we make sure he has nothing left to say." said Chloe, igniting her blade. "I second that," said Matt, igniting his own blade.

Cynder snarled "Then die." before her group charged. Matt got a shock when the warriors also charged, similar blades to what Xodrin had used on their wrists. He also noticed their armour was more streamlined. "Great...uber troopers." he muttered before being forced to dodge a slash.

Spyro however was immediately charged by Cynder. Spyro used his earth breath to create a barrier, but that only slowed Cynder down slightly. He managed to flap back, his previous experience when he had to fight the adult form Cynder all those years ago paid off. "Cynder, please." said Spyro desperately, dodging a shadow fire blast.

"Oh, you want to whine some more?" asked Cynder before nearly slashing him with her poison claws. "Cynder...Don't make me fight you. I don't want to hurt you." said Spyro, barely dodging another slash.

"Well that makes one of us," said Cynder as she tried to poison him again. Spyro said "Then I'm sorry." before back-winging and spitting a fireball at Cynder. Cynder narrowly avoided that and remarked, "So you can fight back."

Spyro quickly began to fly back, forcing Cynder to follow to keep a clear shot going. The chase led in-between the crystal columns, already buzzing with energy.

Meanwhile, the Shar-Khan had their hands full with the uber-troopers. It was farely obvious that these were specifically made to take out tough enemies and were certainly giving them a run for their money.

Matt blocked another slash before punching his opponent in the face, knocking the mask off. The Dark One paused before turning back to face Matt. Where a human would have hair, it just had stubby spikes covering its skull. Its face was not much better. It had two eyes in the regular places, one in its forehead, and one where its nose should. The gaping leech-like orifice below presumbably performed as both nose and mouth.

"Smegging hell." yelped Matt before blasting the dark one in the face, killing it. He didn't have much time to catch his breath as another dark one elite charged him. It appeared that Malefor retained some of his sadistic sense of fun, as he was currently forcing Morph to run around by breathing fire right at his backside. "Stay still." he hissed, before spitting another flame at Morph.

"Ooh, it's hot, it's hot, it's hot!" squealed Morph as he kept only a few inches ahead of Malefor's flames. Malefor laughed darkly before tlying forward to land in front of Morph and slamming his hand down on the experiment, obviosuly expecting a quick kill.

However, Malefor was rather unfamiliar with the experiments in general and thus did not know about Morph's near-limitless regenerating power, not his semi-solid composition.

Malefor lifted his paw to see a puddle before it formed back into Morph. "Ohhh...that felt wierd." said Morph dizzily. "What the?" said Malefor before turning and smashing Morph flat with his tail. Morph sprung back again. "Can you do that once more? Its making my back feel so much better." he asked, cheerfully.

Malefor growled, picked up a large boulder, and slammed it on top of Morph. Again Morph flowed back out from under. "Careful...could have killed somebody with that." Malefor's eye twitched before he yelled, "WHY WON'T YOU DIE?" "That same question could be applied to you," said Morph.

This was the final straw for Malefor. Heartless, he may have been, but he could still be driven round the twist. "GRAAAH!" he roared before tail-whipping Morph across the reactor chamber before flying to see if that had finally done it.

To his credence, he found Morph in a crater. Sadly, he was completely unharmed. "Ooh, that was fun," said Morph, "Do it again!" Malefor glared at this, his eye tick now extremely twitchy before he lunged at Morph. Morgan and his opponent both looked over in confusion as they watched as Malefor literally went nuts.

Meanwhile, the Heartless assault on the surface got even more intense. Since Morph was squashed underground by that Large Body Heartless, the rest have been pressing forward even more now that only one Key/Lockblade was present to oppose them.

A marine yelled something at Negamorph before a blue bolt shot out from the clouds and blew him backwards, blowing the cannon he was at to bits.

A dart fighter flew overhead a second later. Ember blasted a heartless trying to get advantage of this situation. "This is bad." she said, before a dark one warriors blast nearly killed her. "There's too many of them," said Flame, "They'll overrun us before we know it."

Chris fired a blast at a warrior before yelling. "Fall back to the underground...we'll have to hold them there." Several marines didn't need telling twice, grabbing ammo and what weapons they had before sprinting for the entrance. A hail of dart blasts shredded them a second later.

"I'd agree with you, if we could actually get underground," said Xephros. The dart fighters however had circled around to fire on the group that was behind the barricade. Their droning engines could be heard through the clouds, getting louder.

"Looks like our last stand is right here," said Draco. "It would seem so," said Chip, "If we don't survive, I want you to know that I've looked up to your fiery determination." "Chip, I use your spare legs as backscratchers," said Draco. "Excuse me?" said Chip.

The darts cleared the clouds, apparently coming in low. The marines and the gang began firing at the approaching ships before a hail of various elements shot over their barricade from behind and into the darts, forcing them to either scatter or nosedive into the ground in flames.

"What was that?" asked Contrinus. "I believe that was the Calvary," said NegaMorph, pointing upwards towards several dragons that were flying towards them. A large group of dragons, led by the eldars immediately attacked the dark one force, some landing in the middle of a group and using their claws and tails to devastating effect, others breathing their element on the warriors or at the remaining fighters.

"Now that's more like it," said Chris. "Hope it'll be enough to last until they get that portal going," said NegaMorph. Techo stood up and shot a half-burnt but apparently unbothered warrior. "Well...we gonna let these guys get all the fun?" he said.

The battle in Orbit however was another story. Neilsson gripped his command chair as the cruiser he was on caught a glancing blow. Once the dark one ships had raised shields, the battle had begun to turn against the NSC ships. Even the Planet Cracker class, 'Absolution' was struggling.

"How are we losing?" demanded Neilsson, "This is supposed to be one of the elite fleet in the NSC armada." "The enemies shields are taking everything we can throw at it. Even my ships main cannons useless...not that its much use...they took it out a few minutes ago. I got fires on all decks...next hits game over for us...but they're not getting us for free." said Captain Andrews, the Absolutions captain.

With that, he cut comms and the Absolution, covered in gouges and damage from the firepower being hammered on it, turned and began to bear down on one of the heartless command ships.

Lord Zalis...the enemy capitol ships is heading right for us on a ramming course." said a crewman. "Those humans can't really be foolish to pull off a suicidal ploy like that," said Zalis.

"My lord...the targets mss will easily bypass our shields." said the crewman, desperately. The human ship, the proud words 'NSS Absolution' still visible was clearing going to hit. "Destroy them...NOW!" said Zalis, a hint of fear slipping into his voice at his crewmans speech about the shields not protecting them.

The ship brought their full firepower on the ship, but they lacked the total destructive power to break it apart.

On the bridge of Neilssons ship, silence fell as the doomed Dark one command ship fired again and again into the Absolution before the two ships connected. For a second, the command ship seemed like it would hold, its shields flaring into the visible spectrum, before both ships exploded violently, the shockwave and debris destroying 3 other ships that were too close.

On Darkan's ship, a similar shocked silence had descended. "You know what, I didn't survive that old war to become Xodrin's lapdog again," said Darkans, "I'm out of here."

A crewman looked over in confusion. Darkans said "Tell the ships in my wing to jump to the void...Now." The crewman said "We're leaving?" Darkans grabbed him by his collar and yelled "You want to go back to that limbo?"

The thought of returning to Convexity was unpleasant enough, but the way Darkans said nailed it in. The crewman nodded numbly and said, "Aye, sir." Nobody, least of all Xodrin, noticed a half dozen cruisers slowly turn and vanish into a nullspace portal.

Meanwhile, down in the reactor cavern, the battle was really heating up. Primarily contributing to that was Malefor, who had basically gone berserk with his futile attempts to kill Morph.

Cynder however was doing everything in her power to kill Spyro, fuelled by the twisted personality that Xodrin had planted. The two had ended up between the humming Crystal columns, arc energy crackling around the two dragons.

"Cynder, we shouldn't be fighting here," said Spyro. "Oh please," said Cynder, "If you think I'm going to listen to your pathetic pleading to 'come back over', you can stuff it up your-" "No, I mean we shouldn't be fighting right here," said Spyro.

Cynder managed to work out what her opponent meant too late. The arc energy on the crystal stabilizers didn't just look like lightning...it acted like it too meaning it would earth in the nearest suitable object. Cynder found this out a second later as several bolts from a column earthed in her back with a sickening buzzing noise.

Cynder screeched as her body jerked with the overload of energy. Of course, that meant she couldn't keep flapping her wings so she fell down to the floor. Luckily, as a dragon the fall was not fatal for her, but when she landed on the platform placed between the spires, she still had the wind knocked out of her.

Of course, the ruckus of the battle did more than just shake the cavern. It awakened some long forgotten security. Security that was best off sleeping and forgotten. Cynder managed to shake some sense back and was ready to continue her fight when she heard a whirring noise. She slowly looked ahead to see one of the same crystalline spiderbots from the adventure at the archive, barely an inch from her face and looking at her with insect-like curiosity.

A dozen more were crawling from where they had hidden flush with the floor of the platform. Matt had only noticed them when he did a haymaker on one warrior and sent it sprawling on top of the spiderbots. Needless to say, the spiderbots did not like that.

The warrior managed to get up, hissing like some animal before several spiderbots lunged on him with more force then would be expected, forcing him to the floor and stabbing at his chest and face. The momentum of their lunge sent them and their victim falling down into the reactor pit. More spiderbots appeared to be waking up and scuttling towards the warriors and Malefor.

"Oh guuuuys..." said Matt slowly, "I think you need to take a second and look what's coming at us." Morgan was standing perfectly still, one spiderbot sitting on his shoulder and staring at him like it had just eaten the pirates parrot. "Don't respond...they're reacting to the heartless...they won't stop the warriors but it will buy us time." he said, slowly.

Cynder stared blankly at the crystal spider. She had a feeling that she should be terrified, but her mind didn't to be acting quite right. Emotions were flickering on and off and her train of thought couldn't stay on the tracks for more than three seconds.

The spiderbot's optic shone a light in her eye, seemingly looking for something. Whatever it found there, it didn't like it, making a hiss and readying its sharp front legs.

It probably would have tried to make paper dolls out of her grey matter if Spyro hadn't smashed it with a blast of earth power. The other spiderbots all turned in unison, the same hiss coming from them before they began shooting small arc blasts at the purple dragon. Cynder was shocked by her apparent enemy's actions.

"Why...should he help me? We're enemies...aren't we? We've hated, no, loved, no, ugh..." Cynder winced as her brain was probably doing the mental equivalent of a funny bone spasm.

Spyro rolled round the spiderbot blasts above Cynder as well as being forced to back-wing when a spiderbot tried to leap from a wall onto his back. All this time, the electrical shock was slowly eating through the forced personality Xodrin had imprinted, fracturing the false memories like a broken window.

Of course, this wasn't a simple veil-dropping for Cynder. Her reforming memories flashed before her eyes, as well as conflicting and weak-looking false memories. At the same time more spiderbots were methodically crawling onto the platform around her. They were in no hurry, which made their advance all the creepier. Finally, one spiderbot stopped and shone the light at her face again...and stopped. The others stopped, still ready but...waiting.

However, the spiderbots' opinion on Spyro hasn't changed. One of them managed to leap onto his neck and started carving long scratches into his skin, causing Spyro to roar in pain.

That noise was all that was needed to finish crushing Xodrin's homemade personality. She yelled "SPYRO!" and sent a well aimed shadow fireball that neatly flicked the spiderbot off Spyro's back.

The other spiderbots around her seemed to tense up before losing interest and scuttling off. Cynder shuddered as she shrunk down slightly back to her normal form. She had a bit of trouble finding her legs again, but she managed to stumble over to Spyro.

"Cynder?" he said cautiously. Cynder could not blame him for that. Barely a minute ago she had wanted to much to see him dead despite the fact that same thought now made her want to throw up. "Spyro, I'm so sorry," said Cynder. "Oh, now don't you get all mushy too," said Spyro.

A angry roar got both the attention, closely aided when a cracked spiderbot flew between them with a high pitched 'waaaah'. They turned to see Malefor now fighting alone but apparently still holding his ground vs the others.

A second 'waaaah' was heard before Morph landed at their feet. "Hey guys," said Morph, "Is Cynder back to normal yet?" "Yes, I am," said Cynder. "Good, cause this guy's really getting angry," said Morph, pointing back at Malefor.

They were just in time as Malefor spat out a pure black version of a convexity beam, nearly blowing Matt to bits. Malefor then turned slowly to look at the two dragons before growling in mindless rage.

By that time, the last of the dark warriors had been killed by either the Shar-Khan or the spiderbots. This currently meant that Malefor was the last enemy in the room, though quality often overrules quantity.

The spiderbots immediately swarmed Malefor, stabbing or electrocuting him with their arc blasts. However all this did was apparently make Malefor even more angry.

"You know, I distinctly remember reading that the more darkness in a heart, the more monstrous the Heartless becomes," said Chloe, "So I'm kinda wondering why Malefor just looks a black version of himself." "It may be possible that what's left of his mind is holding back a majority of his inner darkness," said Morgan, "Which is remarkable in itself that Malefor has any consciousness left." "And Morph, a expert at making people lose their minds is within 5 feet of him...this isn't good." said Matt.

"No, I'm right here," said Morph's voice. They turned around to see Morph at the opposite end of the cavern. "Hi guys!" he called. "What are you doing over there?" asked Chloe. "Staying away from him," said Morph, pointing at Malefor. "That's actually pretty smart of him," said Matt. Malefor was looking at his enemies. "No...how could you defeat me again...and you...traitor." he hissed, looking at Cynder and seeming quite insane.

"No one in their right mind would want to work with you," said Cynder, "Especially now. Look at yourself. You're not even a real dragon anymore." Morgan said quietly but seriously. "It is over, Malefor. We can restore you to normal...but you must surrender or we will bring you to an end."

"I will never surrender to a human!" roared Malefor. "Look at yourself, Malefor...what do you see?" said Morgan. Malefor, out of curiosity turned and probably for the first time since he had been changed, saw his reflection.

Apparently, the view of his heartless self was too much for what remained of his mind and he let an incredibly loud roar that didn't sound too dissimilar from Godzilla. At the same time, the dark aura that had been surrounding him flared up like an inferno.

The pulse shot out, sending the gang flying back and rendering the Shar khan members out cold when they struck the far wall. Morph, who was already far enough from Malefor, didn't suffer as big an impact. So he was able to notice Malefor being swallowed up by his own aura, which was rising up like flames of darkness.

Spyro and Cynder got up from where they had landed in time to see this and were rendered speechless. Morph however said "Shoot...I coulda brought marshmallows."

As the dark aura started to take on form, Morph realized that now was a really bad time for Matt, Chloe, and Morgan to be unconscious, so he proceeded to wake them up in as gentle a method as he could.

Sadly, to even a regular experiment, the meaning of 'gentle' didn't usually coincide with the rest of the multiverses, hense why he took a trumpet out his tek-pack fitted the funnel onto Matt's head and blew as hard as he could.

However, Matt was infamous for his ability to sleep through anything and all the blowing that Morph did would only cause him to get a bad earache when he woke up, and sub sequentially, end with Morph being stuffed through his own trumpet. "I don't think they're waking up today." Morph said nervously before hearing a snarl from the cloud of smoke that Malefors flames had kicked up. "Uh oh." he said

When he, Spyro, and Cynder looked, the dark aura had parted, revealing a large Heartless looked a lot like a classical European dragon of the village-torching, maiden-stealing legend type. The main indicators of what it really was were the Heartless emblem on its chest and the horns on its head that resembled Malefor's.

The Malefor heartless turned to glare at Spyro and Cynder, whatever that was left of Malefor making them the priority targets. Without any warning he spat a huge fireball at the dragons.

The three of them swiftly scattered to avoid being roasted. "Ok, this is probably the biggest bad guy we've ever fought, right?" asked Morph. "Not really," said Spyro, "The golem and the Destroyer were much bigger than this, but I'm not sure how much more powerful."

The Malefor heartless spread his own wings and took off, flying towards Spyro with his claws out. Spyro rolled to avoid it and Malefor smashed into one of the spires, leaving several cracks.

"Ok, anybody have any ideas of how to defeat this thing?" asked Cynder. "I could see if St George has a mobile number." said Morph, cheerfully, dodging another fireball. "Who's St. George?" asked Spyro before avoiding a sweep from the Heartless' tail.

Morgan came around slowly to see the Lynches still out cold...but also to see Malefor charging towards him as he chased Cynder. "Good lord." he said and rolled to avoid being pounded into the ground.

Just then, Morph rolled to a stop in front of Morgan. "Hi Morgan," he said. "Morph, you have to use your Keyblade," said Morgan, "It was built to fight these kinds of creatures."

Morph pulled out his keyblade. "This thing? I use it to get into the coffee cabinet on the ship." he said disbelievingly before being picked up by Morgan. "You are holding one of the few effective weapons against a heartless...USE IT!" yelled Morgan.

"Um..." said Morph as he looked at the giant Heartless, "Where do I hit him?" "I recommend the wings first so you can ground him, at least temporarily," said Morgan, "And when he's on the ground, hit that emblem on his chest. It might tire him out enough for him to be stunned for a bit, so you'll be able to get at his head and do more damage."

Morph said "You know...this seems alot like a game I played at Lilo's...WHOA!" before Morgan lost patience and threw Morph at Malefor directly before turning dragon and flying up to help Spyro and Cynder.

By sheer luck, Morph happened to land on Malefor's back. He glanced at the wings on either side and said, "Well, I better get to work." He waddled unsteadily over to the left wing and began swatting it with his keyblade, singing "I've been working on the railroad, all the life long day..." until Malefor rolled in the air, resulting in Morph flying backwards to grab onto the tip of the tail.

"Ok, this is trickier than a video game!" called Morph. His day got worse when Malefor turned a corner and his tail headed at high speed for a wall. "Oh no." said Morph before the tail slammed into the wall. "How does Matt do this stuff?" moaned Morph.

Morph managed to climb back up and settled for stabbing into Malefor's back. The keyblade surprisingly cut insanely well, leaving a glowing slash apparently made of light. "This isn't so hard, I don't what the big deal was-" started Morph before Malefor turned his head back and breathed fire down his back. "Oh yeah...that." rasped Morph, before blowing out the candle flame on the end of his keyblade.

"Just like old times, right Spyro?" asked Cynder. "Certainly is," said Spyro before both of them blasted at Malefor's exposed chest. Malefor roared in pain as the shots hit his heart symbol, the classic heartless weak point.

Meanwhile, Matt came round dizzily and wondered why he had such an awful headache...before the sight of Malefor bearing down on him made him forget about his sore head. "HOLY SH-" started Matt before he grabbed Chloe and jumped out of the way.

Malefor sent a stream of flames out, incinerating where the duo had been a second ago. Matt seemed naturally shell-shocked before looking at his sister and shaking her as hard as he could. "WAKE UUUUP!" he screamed.

Chloe barely woke up and looked very cross eyed. "Hey...I got dibs on the donut..." she said faintly. Matt grabbed her and forced her up to see Malefor fighting in the air with the others. "DOES THAT LOOK LIKE BREAKFAST TO YOU?" gibbered Matt.

That snapped Chloe back to normal time. "What the heck is that?" she said. "I think it's Malefor," said Matt, "Or what's left of him." Malefor turned to look at them and hissed before sending a blast of shadow fire at the Lynches. The duo was forced to jump over the railing and turn dragon to avoid being roasted.

"Ok, hopefully someone has a plan to take care of this... Wait, where's Morph?" asked Matt, only counting three dragons in the air and no blobs on the ground or walls. Chloe peered around before pointing in confusion. "Tell me I'm not seeing that." she said, pointing to where Morph was holding on for dear life on Malefor's back.

"It's ok!" called Morph, "I've got the big key thing!" The Lynches watched in shock before snapping out of it to fly after Malefor and strafing him with some lightning and plasma. "Blast from the past, eh, Spyro?" called Matt.

"In more ways than one," said Spyro as he dived to avoid being blasted by a meteor Malefor spat out. "All that's missing is that Chloe should be Sonya." Chloe at that point landed on Malefor's back and bit into the back of the huge heartless's neck. "Nah...Chloe's temper is worse." said Matt.

Meanwhile, Morph had gotten to the other wing and was starting to work on it. "How many whacks does it take to ground this guy, anyways?" asked Morph. Malefor finally landed, if only to try and scrape Morph off. The others continued to fly around Malefor, blasting at him.

Morph got up unsteadily and tottered over to Malefor's chest. "Ok, you big mean dinosaur thing, take that," said Morph as he slashed at Malefor's Heartless emblem. Sadly, it had never been documented how hard you had to hit a large heartless like Malefor was and all Morph earnt was another paw on top of him.

"I'm ok!" called Morph's muffled voice. Spyro flew around and sent a column of fury breath into Malefor's heartless emblem. That had a lot more impact. Malefor roared loudly before his head fell on the ground. "He's stunned!" called Morgan, "Aim for his head!"

Spyro and Cynder swooped round and shot down, both firing their fury breaths into Malefor's head. The reaction was impressive, cracks appearing all over Malefor's body. "Urm...take cover?" suggested Matt, before they were all blinded by the flash of light as Malefor's heartless seemed to explode into light.

As the light faded, they saw a large heart floating up from the remains and seemingly passing through the ceiling. "I wonder what'll happen to him?" muttered Chloe, as the group landed. "Don't know, don't particularly care," said Matt, "What was it we came down to here again?"

Morgan already had realised and was on the platform. "Oh no...no no no." he said angrily, looking at the panel. At the same time a message came over the NSC band. "All units...hostile ship has breached and is approaching firing position."

"Oh yeah, now I remember," said Matt, "Shouldn't we be switching on that arc now?" "We cannot. The system is damaged." said Morgan. "The feedback system is damaged." "Maybe you weren't fully grounded," said Matt.

"You idiot...the device needs the guidance of a mind...but with the feedback damaged, whoever uses it may not survive the sheer amount of information." said Morgan angrily. "Don't they have computers for this sort of thing?" asked Chloe. "Without input the arc will be apocalyptically disastrous." said Morgan.

"So what can we do?" asked Cynder. "I could hit it with the key thing," offered Morph. "No...one of us must hook up to the device...they simply have to stand on this platform and the system will do the rest." said Morgan.

"That doesn't sound so bad," said Matt. "It would be a one way trip...no mind is meant to handle an entire defence grid without aid." said Morgan sadly. "What about someone who barely has any mind?" asked Chloe, looking at an oblivious Morph. "It would not work with...Morphs species. Their minds are wired up differently." said Morgan.

The Lynches took one glance at Morph and said, "I can believe that." Spyro said "This is the only way to stop the dark ones?" in a thoughtful voice. "The only way known," replied Morgan.

Spyro nodded before looking at Cynder. "I'm sorry, Cynder." he said. Cynder looked confused and Matt said cautiously "What are you apologising for?" he said accusingly. Spyro simply said "For this..." before jumping onto where Morgan had said to stand. Immediately the platform lifted up and a force shield surrounded it.

"SPYRO, NO!" called everyone as the platform started to glow.

Meanwhile, the surface team was completely surrounded by Heartless. "Well, this is it," said NegaMorph, "If anyone can do a kamikaze attack, this is the time to do it." Chris suddenly said "Hey...you feel that?" before the ground began to shake. A vine-covered tower opened up and a glowing blue orb flew out before shooting at a warrior, burning clean through. The other warriors seemed surprised by this before a huge swarm of the orbs flew out of several other towers and shot at the warriors, flying neatly round everyone else with ease, another swarm heading up.

Chris looked in shock as the orbs circled around the group before another shaking fit made them all turn. "By the ancestors." said Cyril as a beam shot skywards from a building hidden under the undergrowth. "Um, I'm guessing they were able to boot up that arc thing," said Chip.

In orbit, the NSC fleet had continued the fight to avenge the Absolutions demise but were being pummelled, and now were in worse shape now extra Dark one ships had arrived from the arc.

On Xodrin's ship, he was getting a comm. "Lord Xodrin. I have been sent to assist." said a female dark one called Zarina. "Excellent," said Xodrin, "We'll soon have these mortals under our heel."

"My lord...incoming..." began a crewman before the ship shook violently. The beam headed for the arc had shot right through his ship, crippling it and now what looked like a horde of fireflies were converging on the Dark one fleet, tearing them and their fighters apart with sheer numbers while ignoring the NSC ships.

"What is going on? What are those things?" demanded Xodrin. "Sir...that beam...the arc is activating." said a crewman. Another said "We've lost engine power...the drones are crippling us."

At the arc, the beam hit and the reaction was instant. A bubble of translucent blue energy expanded out, the dark one ships it hit disintegrating. Neilsson watched as the wave of blue light approached them. Considering how they obliterated the Dark One ships, he wasn't feeling particularly confident.

He closed his eyes a second before the wave hit...then opened one eye. Apart from a slight tremor, nothing had happened. "Sir...all hostiles are gone." said a navigation technician. Neilsson was speechless before saying "That merc'll never let me live this down."

Meanwhile, the crystals, which had been shining bright after Spyro got on the platform, were starting to dim now. The force shield dropped away...and Spyro also slumped forward like he was asleep. "Did it work?" asked Morph.

Cynder however had ran up to Spyro in tears and was trying to wake him up. "What's wrong with him?" asked Chloe. "I told him it would be too much for any mind to handle," said Morgan sadly.

Cynder was saying Spyro's name over and over, crying. Matt however didn't feel sad...he felt furious. This was a cruel fate for someone who had saved this world more then three times. "This isn't right." he said. Suddenly the world seemed to go into monochrome and a voice said "Fate is never fair, Mr Lynch."

Matt turned and spotted Mr. Black. "Look, I'm in no mood at all for cryptic Ancient mumbo jumbo," said Matt. "I know what you have in mind. There is nothing you can do...Spyro's fate is to end here." said Mr Black harshly. Matt saw red at this and attempted to throw a punch at Mr Black.

However, Matt just went on right through Mr. Black. "You should know by now that you shouldn't waste time with that," said Mr. Black calmly. "You asshole...you ungrateful asshole." swore Matt, pointing to the frozen forms of Spyro and Cynder. "You'd be facing the Dark Ones again if it wasn't for him."

Mr. Black's sunglasses briefly glowed red as he said, "Don't for an instant think that I was not aware of what was at stake. And in case you weren't aware, the entire omniverse was at stake!"

"Screw you, you sadistic smeghead. I don't count dying as much of a reward for a job well done...DO YOU?" retorted Matt, to angry to be bothered about the danger signs that Mr Black was radiating.

Mr. Black suddenly let off a bright flash of red light as his echoing voice said, "DON'T TELL ME WHAT MY DUTIES ARE, MORTAL! MY UNDERSTANDING OF THE UNIVERSE FAR EXCEEDS WHAT YOUR CORPOREAL BRAIN IS CAPABLE OF! I ONLY APPEAR IN THIS FORM BECAUSE YOUR MIND CANNOT PROCESS MY TRUE FORM!"

"No, you don't." said Matt, un-phased. He had been yelled at by worse things then even Mr Black. "You let him die and you're no worse then Taleth...or Xodrin." he added and closed his eyes, expecting a fatal response.

Mr. Black seemed to be gearing up to let Matt really have it, but then the steam seemed to let out from him. "You've made your point, Lynch. I shall intervene enough to spare Spyro this time, but don't expect this to ever happen again," he said. "I won't ask." replied Matt coldly. The colour and time flow flooded back to the world and immediately Matt thought that Mr Black had pulled a fast one.

Suddenly, Spyro jerked and gasped in air. "Spyro?" said Cynder and hugged Spyro, sobbing tears of joy now. "Well, I guess that's what they call a miracle," said Morgan. Matt simply nodded "You could say that." he said to himself. He knew that one day, his 'deal' with Mr Black would come back to haunt him, but he;d still consider it worth it.

The return to Warfang was really a victory parade, but the dragons were grateful to be back home. The city had taken heavy damage, many of the buildings completely gone to be replaced by crates, one so deep it had punched down into the catacombs. "Sorry about your city. It kinda got wrecked." said Matt.

"We've repaired from worse," said Terrador, "We can rebuild again." Matt looked over at where Spyro and Cynder were. "The NSC'll probably help rebuild...plus Morgan and his people are fixing up the old city...so you'll have somewhere to live this winter while you rebuild." said Matt.

"Yes, it would seem that things may return to normal again," said Terrador, "Except for you and Kala." Matt looked at Terrador. "Nothing slips by you guys." he said in a 'drop it' tone of voice. "Now, now," said Terrador, "You don't want to do what Spyro did, do you?" "Taleth took her from me." said Matt, darkly.

"Which is essentially the same as Malefor or Darkans taking Cynder from Spyro," said Terrador, "You two, er, four have a lot more in common than you might think." Matt calmed down a bit. "I'll find her again...but if I have to...Taleth goes down." he said. "I'm sure you will," said Terrador.

A little later and several NSC dropships loaded with medical and aid supplies had landed. The NSC had no doubt that they owed the people of Avalar and were sending any and all aid to help them rebuild. Chloe was sitting with Sonya, watching the efforts. "Matt won't give up on Kala." Chloe said after a minute.

"Probably not," said Sonya, "Smoldron would probably do the same thing for me." Chloe looked at Sonya. "I don't want to see my brother become one of those...Shar virk monsters..." "He won't, his heart's stronger than that," said Sonya.

Chloe nodded. "It still worries me. He's constantly balancing on the edge." "I've known him before. Sure he can be a little nuts, but I don't think having a corrupted girlfriend will be enough send him completely over the edge. If that were true, he'd have snapped years ago." Said Sonya, reassuredly.

Chloe shook her head. "I know...but you've never seen how close he's come." "What? With his nutty giggling and whacking people that are annoying him?" asked Sonya. "No...when he nearly executed someone in cold blood or tried to kill us all." said Chloe, speaking obviously of Draconus, the name of Matt's split personality, known to Shar Khan as an 'other'.

"Well, as long as he has you to hold him back, he'll be fine," said Sonya. "I guess," said Chloe, "By the way, how's the egg?" "Its fine." said Sonya, smiling a bit. "We managed to get it out safely before the city was attacked."

"Good, I'm happy for you," said Chloe. "You know, you should consider getting yourself a boyfriend," said Sonya. "Just because you're a dragoness, doesn't me I won't hit you," said Chloe flatly. Sonya just smiled to herself. "I seen how you look at Chris..." Chloe glared before laughing a bit from shock.

**Intercepted NSC NewsNet Transmission**

_"...and thanks to the assistance from the experiment super-soldier, EnigMorph, the Kentyne Belt is now a protected neutral area again, free from occupation. The top headlines again, NSC Navy Command confirm that the 32nd fleet was dispatched to the Dragon Eye nebula wormhole to aid in a H.Q.F operation. Reports say that among the casualties was the Planet Cracker class 'Absolution' with all hands."_

_"However, we have received word that the battle was a success and heartless threat has been neutralized. Thanks to the natives of this world's instrumental help in diverting this apocalyptic catastrophe as well as Ancient connections dug up, the planet known as Avalar is now considered a B-Class world."_

"_NSC officials however confirm that the Avalar wormhole will be authorized access only until further notice. When asked if any Heartless escaped the quarantine, NSC officials say that all threats were eliminated. In other news..."_

Darkans turned off the comm. He could not believe how lucky he and his sub-fleet of 6 cruisers had been. "Sorry, Xodrin...guess you lucked out." he said. "But sir, our kind is considered criminal in all of the realms," said one of the crewmen, "We won't find any worlds that will welcome us."

Darkans looked over at the crewman and laughed. "Didn't you hear? We're all dead." Another crewman said "What do we do now sir?" Darkans smiled darkly and said "Anything we want..."

**End**

**There we go...my soul gem saga finished. The Lynches adventures will continue in mine and Cydra's saga stories, posted on Cydra's profile. Expect to see Darkans and his minions again...**


End file.
